


Infinity, Eternity, and Inevitability

by Penning_the_stars



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Anxiety, Canon Rewrite, Canon Universe, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Depression, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Loves Peter Parker, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Irondad, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), LGBTQ Character, Loki and Thor Are Not Related, M/M, Other, Panic Attacks, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Secret Relationship, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, ace characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:30:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penning_the_stars/pseuds/Penning_the_stars
Summary: No one knows why Tony Stark wears a ring when he never got officially married.No one knows why Steve was able to bring Bucky back by saying one line.No one knows why Bruce and Nat are such close friends, but aren't together.No one knows why Rhodey and Sam are so close when their friends are enemies.No one knows why Clint disappears for days then shows up like nothing happened.No one knows why Thor trusts his adopted brother after all he's done.Rewriting basically everything, to give people what they want: LGBTQA+ avengers.However, main focus is on Infinity War and Endgame.Will people dust? Yes. Will permanent deaths happen? No. Why? Because emotional trauma needs to be undone.





	1. Pre-Infinity

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this is my first Marvel fanfic to be posted. Please don't kill me. Now, if I make a mistake with the canon lines or actions, just comment and tell me. Please be kind! But honest. Anyway, I give you a very angst-y story that's Infinity War and Endgame and beyond, just without permanent character deaths and more gay and bi and pan and ace ships.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little intro, setting the stage for the main event.

Tony fingers his wedding ring. It's simple, just a thin silver band with a strip of white marble on his ring finger. He's had it for about twenty years now. 

Originally, it was supposed to symbolize his husband, back when they had tied the knot. He had been a silver kind of guy, and the white looked like his doctor coat.

The corresponding band on his husband reflects what Tony used to be. A titanium band for his engineering with lines of gold because gold is Tony's color. 

But a lot had changed. For both of them. They had changed. Maybe a change is in order . . .

"Friday?" Tony says, already walking towards his personal lab, planning out what he wants to do with the two rings. 

"Yes boss?" Friday answers.

"Bring all Iron Man suit scraps to lab 248, along with nanoparticles. We have a project to start," Tony declares. "Call Wong, I'm going to need his input."

 

Stephen glances at his wedding ring. It's hanging from a chain from his neck, his hands too damaged to properly wear it. A medium sized, red-gold magic butterfly is resting on the ring.

The butterflies, hummingbirds, and flowers that appear randomly are tiny amounts of his magic that does whatever it wants to do. Usually appearing when he thinks about his husband of twenty years. 

His husband loves the creations, and always treats them as actual alive creatures, which, Stephen supposes, is true. The apparitions of his magic are alive, just magic. 

"Wong?" Stephen calls out, an idea taking root in his mind. 

"Yes?" Wong answers, walking into the hall from the Sanctum's library. 

"I have something to run by Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy," Stephen says, changing his clothes to normal street clothes. Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy are the only people besides Wong who know about he and his husband's marriage. He knows they'll be able to help him with the idea the butterfly, now in his room with Cloaky, inspired. 

 

Steve stares down at the city, New York, that has become his current hideout for his team, not even half of his family. 

He had escaped the war room for a couple minutes, and curled up in the small window seat to try and draw something, anything. Instead, he finds his thoughts going to the city below him, and naturally back to Bucky. Like always. 

The city always reminded Steve of Bucky. Almost everything does, really. Any apartment, no matter how dirty or clean, always reminds him of that day Bucky moved Steve into the Barnes' apartment after Steve's mom died. She had been sick the past week, but Steve had thought she would pull through. She didn't. He had been so distraught, he never even realized Bucky was taking him to the Barnes' apartment until after Mrs. Barnes had him drink his third cup of tea. 

And of the day when they had moved into their own apartment. They knew it wouldn't last, but for now, that had been enough. To be together, to pretend they were married to each other like they wanted to be, to share money and a home, that was enough. They both knew Bucky would find a girl he liked enough to marry, and move out with, and that would be the end, but it had been enough. They had always been enough for each other. 

Has 70 years changed that? Has Bucky found a girl he loves? Or maybe another man? Are they still together? Will Bucky take Steve has he is, beat and betrayed, changed?

 

Bucky sits on some unused hay bales, looking out at the fields of grazing goats and grass. Steve would love this place. 

All the openness, an unblocked view of the sky, green grass and living plants. And real animals that aren't pigeons or rats. Hell, just the fact that there are trees here that aren't maples or pines or whatever type of tree they had at Central Park.

Sure the culture's weird as shit and it sure as hell ain't New York's Brooklyn, but that's kinda nice. No way he wants to live here forever, but it's nice. 

It reminds him of their dreams. Marriage was never an option, though they both wanted to, because no way in hell could they get married back then. But, they loved their shared apartment. Steve had always wanted to see the world, or at least other states. Bucky had been saving money, hoping to take Steve to the Grand Canyon. 

Once he's fully stable, they could go there. 'Course, Steve's probably gone already. And even if he hadn't, why would he want to go with Bucky?

Oh yeah, go to the Grand Canyon with a 90-year old former Hydra prisoner with a metal arm who used to be your boyfriend (what were they now anyway?) when both of you are wanted criminals. 

Bucky snorts. Fun times. 

But, he wants to see Steve again. Sure they may never be boyfriends again, but to be friends? That's good enough. 

 

Natasha finishes destroying the punching bag and steps back, breathing hard. If Bruce was . . .

She sharply turns her head to the side, as if trying to avoid the thought. She sits down on the bench and starts to aggressively take the boxing tape off her hands. 

_"Please stop, you're hurting yourself."_

_"It doesn't matter."_

_"It matters to me. Here, let me help you."_

Natasha slams her hands down, trying to suppress the memory. 

_His hands, gentle and slightly rough with callouses made from handling equipment for his experiments, oh so carefully unwrapping her hands, so much more careful than she deserved._

But he always did think she was worth it. 

She trembles, pushing the tears back. 

If Bruce was here. She wouldn't be punishing herself. She wouldn't be tearing the tape off and just be making more bruises. She wouldn't be trying so hard to get him out of her head. 

 _"But he's not here."_ The cruel voice whispers into her mind.  _"He's not here, and it hurts. You let him come close and look where that got you."_

Natasha clenches her jaw, wrapping her arms around herself, driving her nails into her biceps. Tears prick her eyes, but none fall. They never do. 

 

Bruce, as Hulk, stares out at space, not really seeing it. 

Two years. It had been two years since Bruce had stepped foot on his planet. Two years since Bruce had looked like himself. Two years since he had seen Nat. Two years.

The ship jolts under his feet, under _Hulk's_ feet, and he barely moves, staring out the port window, watching the stars go by. 

Nat probably hates him. It took her a while, longer than most, but she most likely hates him by now. The one person who accepted him as is, Bruce and Hulk, and still loved him, and he went and left for two years. Unknowingly and unwillingly of course, but still. 

He hopes she hasn't punished herself over it. Who was he kidding, starting a platonic romance? All he does is hurt and destroy. 

Hulk can't cry, but Bruce can feel his internal crying. 

Home. Just get home. Home to Earth. Home to himself. Home to Nat. Home to everything that matters. Home to his friends, the people who had become family. Home.

 

Rhodey sits with his head in his hands, wishing . . . what? Wishing Tony could settle his problems without starting a civil war? Wishing Sam had signed the Accords? 

If Tony hadn't settled his problem like that, he would have hated Cap and Bucky and Wanda for the rest of his life. 

If Sam had signed the Accords, he would have signed away the freedom he always found in flying. He would have signed away the freedom he had wanted since forever.

No, what Rhodey really truly wants right this minute is Sam. Sam comforting him. Sam helping him muddle through the stupid paperwork, Sam making coffee, Sam pulling his therapist shit that always put a smile on his face and helped him get up in the mornings. Just . . . Sam. 

 

Sam leans against the crappy apartment counter. The coffee maker gurgles next to him, reminding him of all that he's lost. 

He doesn't regret siding with Steve. Bucky needed help, and the government wasn't gonna give that. And the Accords are horrible. Nobody has the right to tell him who he can or can't help, who he can or can't protect, who he can or can't save.

But . . .

_Rhodey's face, glowing with happiness as Sam pours out two steaming hot cups of coffee._

_Rhodey laughing as Sam pulls some cheesy therapist lines._

Rhodey. 

They all lost something, no matter whose side they were on. All he needs is him . . . Just give him Rhodey.

 

Clint is home. He has his wife, his kids, and no calls to go on crazy-ass missions. Sure he's on house arrest, but he missed Laura. 

 All those missions away from home, and the chance of survival tipped more towards unlikely than likely everyday. 

No, much better for him to stay at home and alive, being there for his kids and Laura. 

He just hopes Nat's okay, where ever she is. His best friend has a tendency to believe she's not worth much. And without a positive influence like himself or Bruce . . .

Clint shakes his head. No, Natasha will be fine, Bruce will come back, and he should be happy with his family. 

Oh, Laura's birthday is coming up. He should probably start thinking about what to make her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post maybe once a week or once every other week. Sorry, but I'm busy and I have two stories to write and update, along with some one-shots I want to write, so we'll see, okay? But I will update at least twice a month, and probably more.


	2. Illusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beginning of Infinity War.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, right off the bat the story is changing. Not too much, the plot's the same (because I can't write something as good as that heart-wretching plot Marvel pulled), but I am changing up the details. But over all, same plot until Endgame.
> 
> Most of the dialogue is Marvel's, which, because I'm not Tony Stark, is owned by Marvel/Disney. However, some dialogue is mine! Please, please, please don't copy my works. Don't use my dialogue. Look up the script for Infinity War if you want the true dialogue, don't trust mine. 
> 
> Also, WATCH THE TAGS. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading!

"This is the Asgardian refugee vessel  _Statesman._ We are under assault, I repeat, we are under assault - The engines are dead, life support failing. Requesting aid from any vessel within range. We are 22 jump points out of Asgard. Our crew is made if Asgardian families, we have very few soldiers here. This is  _not_ a warcraft. I repeat, this is not a warcraft!" an Asgardian crew member transmits via radio. 

~~~

Ebony Maw stalks over dead Asgardians, showing no regret or mercy as he almost joyfully picks his way from the carnage. Heimdall weakly tries to grab Maw's leg, but can't gather the energy to and Maw moves onward, not even realizing what had happened. 

"Hear me, and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan . . . You may think this suffering . . . No. It is  ** _salvation._** Universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice. Smile," Maw proclaims as he walks. Behind him, Corvus Glaive stabs one of the beaten Asgardians, killing him. "For even in death, you have become Children of Thanos."

Loki stands in front of the Black Order, Thanos's children, assassins, and warriors. 

Thanos stares out of the large window, his back facing everyone. "I know what it's like to lose. To  _feel_ so desperately that you're right . . . yet to fail nonetheless." He grabs Thor by his breastplate. "It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say . . .  _I AM_ ," Thanos declares, revealing his hand, covered in a golden gauntlet, with the power stone set into one of the knuckles on it. 

"You talk too much," Thor chokes out, his throat being crushed by Thanos's hand. 

"The Tesseract," Thanos demands to Loki, "or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference."

The Black Guard smirk and raise their weapons. 

"Oh, I do. Kill away!" Loki lies smoothly, eyes glinting. 

Thanos looks briefly surprised but pushes the gauntlet to Thor's head, the power stone shining brightly. Thor screams, his voice already hoarse. 

As the stone digs into Thor's head, Loki's cool persona melts quickly. 

" ** _ALL RIGHT, STOP!_** " he yells.

Thanos deactivates the stone but doesn't release Thor. 

"We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard," Thor lies, trying to catch his breath. He looks into Loki's eyes, willing him play along. 

Loki's heart breaks and he looks away from Thor, lifting his right hand as the Tesseract forms in it. 

"No," Thor whispers, shock and hurt painting a heart-wretching picture across his face.

Loki steps toward Thanos, holding the Tesseract out to him. "I assure you, love . . . the sun will shine on us again," Loki promises, locking eyes with Thor. 

"Love?" Thanos repeats, confused and disgusted. "You are brothers," he spits out, repulsed.

"First of all," Loki starts, the Tesseract disappearing from his hand, "bold of you to assume my gender. And second," he says, slyly smirking, "who ever said siblings?"

"My father found Loki as a baby, and instead of killing him and the rest of his people, Odin decided to take Loki, to raise him as a marriage partner for myself. His hope was that we would end the war between our two worlds," Thor explains tiredly. 

Thanos sneers. "Hand over the Tesseract, Asgardian, my patience is at an end."

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another . . . We have a Hulk," Loki responds. 

Thanos looks to his right, as Hulk smashes into him. Loki dives for Thor, pushing both of them out of the way of the fight. Hulk hits Thanos again and again, pushing him to a wall. 

Maw puts a hand in front of Cull Obsidian, stopping him from getting into the fight. "Let him have his fun."

Thanos grins and pries Hulk's hands away. He hits Hulk again and again, before throwing him down. Hulk lies still on the ground, defeated and unconscious. 

Thor slams Thanos's back with a metal pole, but Thanos just viciously kicks him away. Maw gestures and pieces of metal bind Thor down. 

"Allfathers," Heimdall's prays, his voice raspy, ". . . let the dark magic flow through me one last . . . time." 

The Bifrost appears and carries Hulk's away. Heimdall meets Thor's eye.

"That," Thanos coldly says, "was a mistake." He grabs Corvus's glaive and stabs it through Heimdall's heart, twisting into the wound. 

" _ **NO!!**_ " Thor screams, struggling against his trap. " _ **You're going to die for that!**_ " he swears.

Maw gestures and a piece of metal wraps itself around Thor's mouth. "Shhhh."

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thanos asks, anger evident in his voice.

"With Loki, my liege," Maw answers.

"Find him and bring him before me.  _ **AND BRING ME THE TESSERACT!**_ " Thanos orders.

"Oh, no need," Loki says, stepping forward from the shadows. "I am right here, waiting to swear my undying loyalty to you."

"And what use do you have, after I get the Tesseract?" Thanos asks, unconvinced.

"I have experience on Earth, where you will no doubt go," Loki states.

"If you consider failure experience," Thanos says.

"I consider  _experience,_ experience," Loki argues. He brings the Tesseract back. "Almighty Thanos, I . . . Loki . . . Prince of Asgard . . .," he looks straight at Thor, "Odinson . . . The rightful King of Jotunheim . . . God of Mischief . . . do hereby pledge to you, my undying fidelity." 

A dagger appears in Loki's hand. He pauses, then leaps up and stabs Thanos in the side. Thanos grabs Loki's throat, but Loki fades away. 

He reappears at Thor's side, Tesseract in hand. Smirking, Loki's illusion falls away, revealing the ships to be empty of Asgardians.

"Undying," Thanos growls, the power stone starting to glow. "You should choose your words more carefully."

"Believe me, I do." Loki then teleports himself and Thor out of the Asgardian ship to a nearby ship. 

~√~

Doctor Stephen Strange, dressed in street clothes, walks down the grand staircase with Wong, dressed as he always is. 

"Seriously? You don't have any money?" Stephen asks.

"Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual," Wong replies.

"I'll tell the guys at the deli," Stephen says wryly. "Maybe they'll make you a metaphysical ham on rye."

"Oh, wait, wait, wait, I think I have two hundred," Wong says, digging in his pocket.

"Dollars?" Stephen asks, surprised.

"Rupees," Wong answers.

"Which is?"

"Uh, buck and a half," Wong calculates.

Stephen gives a small smile. "What do you want?"

Wong shrugs. "I wouldn't say no to a tuna melt."

The Bifrost crashes into the Sanctum Sanctorum's roof and stairs. The Cloak of Levitation wraps itself onto Stephen's shoulders as his clothes transform into his Sorcerer Supreme clothes. Wong and Stephen race up the stairs to peer into the crater. Bruce, now in his form, lays at the bottom.

"Thanos is coming. He's coming . . ." Bruce warns, his voice rough from lack of use.

Stephen and Wong look at each other, confused. "Who?" Stephen asks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos!!! You readers are the best!!


	3. Magic, Iron, and a Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second battle: Tony, Stephen, Cloak, Wong, Bruce, and Peter vs Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. Oh wait, we're using our fake names. 
> 
> Second battle: Iron Man, Supreme Sorcerer Dr. Strange, Cloak of Levitation, Wong, Bruce (because Hulk refuses to show), and Spider-Man vs Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Stephen try to hide the fact that they know each other, love each other, and understand exactly why the time stone can't go away.
> 
> Peter being his adorable self. Wong being Wong. Bruce and Hulk having relationship issues. Cloak being loyal and protective. 
> 
> Also I'm so sorry for taking so much time updating!! Please forgive me!

"Slow down, slow down. I'm totally not kidding," Tony says as he catches up with Pepper.

Pepper laughs and talks over him, "You're totally rambling."

"No I'm not," Tony says, talking over her.

"Lost me," Pepper says.

"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in that dream you gotta pee?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, and then you're like, 'Oh my god, there's no bathroom, what am I gonna do?' ''Oh! Someone's watching.' 'I'm gonna go in my pants.' "

"Right. And then you wake up, and in real life you actually have to pee."

"Yes."

"Yeah, everybody has that," Pepper says, wondering where Tony's going with this.

"Right! That's the point I'm trying to make. Apropos of that, last night, I dreamt, we had a kid," Tony says.

"Tony, you already have a kid," Pepper interrupts, sighing.

"So real. We named it after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name?" Tony continues, unfazed. 

Pepper nods. "Right."

"Morgan! Morgan," Tony exclaims.

"So you woke up, and thought that you and Stephen were . . ." Pepper trails off, unconvinced.

"Expecting," Tony confirms 

"Yeah," Pepper says, totally unconvinced.

"Yes?" Tony asks, eager.

"No," Pepper says, shaking her head. "I'm sorry Tony, I don't think the operation worked."

"I had a dream about it. It was so real," Tony complains.

"You already have so many," Pepper says, stopping and tapping Tony's chest attachment. "Including Peter and this."

"I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nano particles," Tony says defensively.

"It's not helping your case, okay?" 

"No, no, it's an attachment, it's not a–"

"You don't need that," Pepper insists.

"I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect–"

"Protect the world I know," Pepper finishes sighing. "But Tony, there's nothing you need to protect the world from. Nothing you can protect from while being Iron Man."

"Yeah," Tony says, totally not agreeing. "You know what there should be? No more surprises. I'm taking Gandalf out for a nice dinner tonight. Give him our new bands. And we should have no more surprises. Ever. I should promise you."

"Yes," Pepper asks, exasperated over her best friend's antics and constant life-threatening events.

"I will," Tony says, kissing Pepper on the forehead. 

"Tony Stark," Stephen says, walking out of a sparking orange portal, "I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me. There's someone you need to see."

Tony does a tiny nod, in acknowledgement of the need for secrecy as the 'someone' his husband is referring to mist be someone who doesn't know about their marriage. Pepper notices the nod and understands to act like she doesn't know Stephen so she puts on her 'another hero/avengers thing that will probably put people in danger and why is that guy using magic??' face.

"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets or something?" Tony sasses, internally worried about what this could mean if Stephen was approaching him in broad daylight with open magic.

"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake," Stephen says, sassing right back at Tony.

"And who's we?" Tony asks.

"Hey Tony," Bruce says, emerging from the portal behind Stephen.

"Bruce," Tony says, surprised.

"Pepper," Bruce says, looking so relieved to see her and Tony.

"Hi," Pepper responds, shocked.

"You okay?" Tony asks, as Bruce doesn't look too good.

Bruce wordlessly hugs Tony desperately, burying his face in Tony's shoulder and holding back sobs. Tony hugs back, staring at Stephen, silently asking him what happened. Stephen just looks back at Tony, the sorrow set in his face speaking of those countless nights spent after nightmares caused by those many deaths by Dormammu's hand. 

~✧~

Wong uses magic to show a 3D image of five of the six Infinity Stones. "From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom! The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals, hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence," he explains.

"Space," Stephen says as each stone glows when he calls their name. "Reality. Power. Soul. Mind. And Time." He opens the Eye of Agamotto, revealing the glowing green Time Stone. 

"Tell me his name again," Tony says, the gears in his head going a mile a second. 

"Thanos," Bruce says, his every word weighed down with sorrow and a fair amount of hauntedness on his face. "He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half of the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York. That's  _him._ "

"This is it," Tony whispers to himself, turning away from the room, Stephen's sorrowful face making sense now. He knew the nightmares that predicted this. "What's our timeline?" he asks everyone, turning to face the room.

Bruce answers, saying, "No telling. He has the Power Stone, that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole  _universe._ And his tech, Tony, it's unlike anything we've seen. It's faster and stronger than New York. It's better than Asgardian tech. If he gets his hands, on all six stones, Tony . . ."

"He can destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of," Stephen finishes, stoney faced even though he knows how much Tony hates him using old-fashioned words. 

Leaning against a cauldron, which  _he_ knows  _Stephen_ hates, Tony comments, "Did you  _seriously_  just say 'hitherto undreamt of' ?" 

"Are you  _seriously_ leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Stephen snarks back, straining to hold back his laughter at his husband, because they both know they're sassing each other just to have fun and settle into their normal routine. 

"Is that what this is . . .?" Tony asks sarcastically, smirking. Cloaky slaps his arm away from the cauldron.

Tony straightens (not he can, what with him being pan and all) and snootily says, "I'm going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?" He knows it's not going to happen, but he has to keep appearances up.

"No can do," Stephen replies.

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone. With our lives," Wong says.

"I swore off dairy, but the, Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me, so . . ." He trails off, shrugging. 

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts," Stephen says, naming the product right away.

"It's not bad," Tony says.

"A bit  _chalky_ ," Stephen says, repeating his opinion of the ice cream for the three thousandth time.

" 'A Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge' is our favorite," Wong explains.

"That's a thing?" Bruce asks, surprised.

"Whatever. Point is: things change," Tony says, waving a hand. Which, Stephen notices, has a red and blue metal ring on the ring finger. That clever little bastard. . .

"Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change. This stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos," Stephen points out firmly.

"And still conversely, it may also be his best chance against us," Tony argues, flashing back to Afghanistan.

"Well, if we don't do our jobs," Stephen replies, steely eyed.

"What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?" Tony asks condescendingly.

"Protecting your reality douchebag," Stephen says, calm as ever but so sarcastic. 

"Okay, guys," Bruce asks, "could we table this discussion right now? The fact is that we have this stone. We know  _where it is._ Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone, and we have to find him  _now._ "

"Yeah, that's the . . . thing," Tony awkwardly says.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asks, confused.

Tony sighs. "Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline."

"What? Tony, you lost another super bot?" Bruce says, flashing back to Ultron.

"I didn't lose him," Tony protests. "He's more than that. He's evolving."

"Who could find Vision, then?" Stephen asks, use to Tony's protests about Vision not being just a machine. 

"I promise Vision I wouldn't interfere with his life so . . ." He pales and whispers, "Shit." To the other men he replies, "Probably Steve Rogers."

Stephen sighs in exasperation, saying, "Oh great." Yes Tony and Steve had cleared everything up in between each other unofficially, but Tony had a thing about not giving in to Steve. 

"Maybe. But . . ." Tony sighs.

"Call him," Bruce urges, not understanding why everyone's acting like talking to Steve is impossible.

"It's not that easy," Tony says to Bruce. "God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?" 

"No," Bruce answers, confused.

"The Avengers broke up. We're toast," Tony explains.

"Broke up?" Bruce asks, disbelieving and let-down. "Like a band? Like The Beatles?"

"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms." He pauses, then Tony adds, "Officially, of course."

"Tony, listen to me," Bruce please. "Asgard's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not, offically or unofficially."

Tony hesitates, glances at Stephen, who nods yes, then pulls out the cellular phone Steve had mailed him months ago, muttering "Flip phone" as he does so. He brings it everywhere, always on alert for that one time he'll need Steve. Before he can press 'Call' a unearthly rumble stops him. He turns and looks at the people in front of him, looking for the source of the noise. "Say, Doc, you won't happen to be moving your hair, would you?" 

Stephen looks up at his forelock and says, "Not at the moment, no."

Tony looks through the Hulk-sized hole in the roof and sees debris flying pass. He walks out of the Sanctum's front doors and scans the chaos. People are running away screaming from something behind the corner, traffic is all tangled up, and the wind is blowing litter and debris around. A woman falls in front of Tony as he walks towards the corner, and he helps her up. "You okay?" he asks the woman, but she just runs away. A car crashes behind Tony. "Help him! Wong, Doc," he says, referring to the man in the car.

"Go! Got it!" Bruce yells, the only way to be heard over the wind and screams.

Tony puts on his sunglasses, the screens coming alive as he asks, "Friday, what am I looking at?" 

"Not sure, I'm working on it," Friday answers.

"Hey! You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!" Tony calls back to Stephen, who has magic bands encasing his arms.

"Might wanna use it," Stephen mutters.

As Tony approaches the corner, a mechanical buzz gets louder. When he turns it and faces the source of the chaos, he finds a giant circle space ship descending on to Bleecker Street.

~/╲/\\( •••• ω ••••)/\╱\~

Peter sits on the bus, bored. He feels that tingling feeling of his Spidey senses and looks up, following the sense's urge to look out the window. Gasping, he taps Ned's shoulder and whispers, "Ned, hey. I need you to cause a distraction."

Need glances out the window and yells, "Holy shit! We're all gonna die! There's a spaceship!" 

All of his classmates rush to the windows and shout about the spaceship. 

Peter slips one of his web-shooters and pulls the emergency lever on the opposite window. 

Stan Lee, the bus driver, turns around and says, "What's the matter with you kids? You've never seen a spaceship before?"

Peter climbs out of the bus, and, clinging to the side, slips his mask on before quickly swinging toward the spaceship.

~✧~

"Friday, evac anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders," Tony says as he stares at the spaceship.

"Will do," Friday responds.

Stephen throws the Winds of Watoomb over the street, and winks at Tony. Tony grins for a split second as the dust clears. 

Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian are beamed down from the ship and land in the middle of the street. "Hear me, and rejoice," Maw intones. "You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to . . ."

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here," Tony interrupts, pulling his usual Stark Snark. 

Maw glares at Stephen. "Stonekeeper . . .," he gestures at Tony, "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not. I speak for myself," Stephen answers, magical shields ready on his fists as he steps forward. "But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Wong copies Stephen's movements.

"It means get lost, Squidward!" Tony yells.

"He exhausts me," Maw mutters.

Cull growls something in his language. 

"Bring me the Stone," Maw orders. 

Cull growls something else in his language and stalks forward, dragging his weapon on the ground. 

"Banner, you want a piece?" Tony asks, eyes not moving from Cull. 

"No, not really, but when do I ever get what I want?" Bruce answers, sighing. 

"That's right," Tony says.

Bruce strains, and attempts to release Hulk, but all that happens is a spread of green up his neck. 

"Been a while. Good to have you, buddy," Tony says.

"I just . . . I need to concentrate here for one second. Come on, come on, man," Bruce grunts, trying really hard to bring out Hulk.

"Where's your guy?" Tony asks, impatient.

"I don't know," Bruce says. "We've sorta been havin' a thing."

"There's no time for a thing," Tony argues.

"I know," Bruce moans.

"That's the thing right there," Tony says, pointing at Cull who is walking towards them. "Let's go."

Bruce grunts and strains, but Hulk refuses to show. Stephen stares at Bruce in disbelief.

Tony glances at Stephen, worry written across his face. "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

"Tony, I'm sorry," Bruce stutters. "Either I can't or he won't-"

"It's okay. Hey, stand down," Tony says as he pats Bruce's back and passes him off to Wong. "Keep an eye on him. Thank you."

"I have him," Wong replies, still calm.

"Damn it," Bruce swears, disappointment in himself evident.

Tony slowly takes three steps towards Cull, who is still coming, as his nano-tech suit emerges and encases him. A shield is built as a set of blasters also appear. He releases the power, easily tossing the muscled alien backwards into Maw. Or in the direction of him, as Maw deflects Cull away into some cars to the side of himself. 

"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asks, surprised and intrigued. 

"It's nano-tech. You like it? A little somet-" Tony starts to say before a giant spike of earth sends him up into the air. Maw sends other debris at the others and Wong defenses them by summoning the Shield of the Seraphim. 

"Doctor Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us . . ." Stephen says, before promptly sending Bruce through a portal to a park, along with half of a taxi. 

Tony flies back and shoves a car Maw sent his way back to Maw, who cuts it in half and lets the two halves fall to either side of him. 

"Could use some help, Dumbledore," Tony calls to Stephen.

Stephen smirks and deflects debris, saying, "I'm more of a Merlin."

Tony mock gasps and says, sounding scandalized, "Traitor!" He flies through an obstacle course of debris Maw is trying to use to kill him, but is hit with Cull's hammer, which sends him through a building and into a park. He plows through the grass, knocks down a tree, and stops with the tree on top of him. 

Bruce rushes over. "Tony, you okay? How we doing? Good? Bad?" 

"Really, really good. Really good. Do you plan on helping out?" Tony asks as he gets out from underneath the tree. 

"I'm trying. He won't come out."

Cull appears in the park and throws his hammer at the two men. 

"Hammer," Tony says as he pushes Bruce out of the way. He shoots an energy ray at Cull, who deflects it with his shield. The beam cuts down trees, and Bruce gets hit by one.

As he crawls out from under the branches, Bruce talks at himself. "Come on, Hulk. What are you doing to me?" He starts slapping himself, saying, "Come out! Come out! Come out!" 

Half of Bruce's face turns green and into Hulk's face, which yells, "Noooooo!" before turning back to Bruce's full face. He falls back on to the tree, exhausted. 

"What do you mean, 'no'?!" he yells.

Tony gets knocked down by Cull, and as Friday tries to bring the screens back from such a powerful blow, he makes to bring the hammer down on Tony's head. Tony closes his eyes, knowing he can't stop the attack. 

"Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?" a familiar teenage voice says. 

Tony opens his eyes to see Peter as Spider-Man pushing the hammer away from Tony. He grins and asks, "Kid, where'd you come from?"

"Fieldtrip to MoMA," Peter says as Tony's screens start to unscramble. Cull grabs Peter and throws him away, but the kid swings himself around and lands next to Tony, who has managed to stand, his suit back online. "What is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?"

"He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard," Tony responds, making a mental note to explain more later. 

~✧~

Wong and Stephen battle Maw. Maw lifts up multiple bricks and sharpens them to spears, then sends them flying at the two. They create two portals which send the spears back at Maw. He brings up a car as a shield, but one spear makes it over the car, creating a gash on Maw's head. Snarling, Maw harnesses a broken fire hydrant's water and sends it at Wong, who brings back his shield, blasting the water around him. Stephen retaliates, snapping a sparking whip at Maw and binding his hands together, breaking his manipulation of the water, freeing Wong. 

Stephen pulls on the whip, but Maw flies at Stephen and pins him upside down against a brick wall, manipulating the bricks so them cover his body and traps Stephen there. 

"Your powers are quaint. You must be popular with the children," Maw says.

Wong goes to attack Maw, but Maw, without looking, sends him flying into a building, knocking him unconscious. Maw then grabs the amulet, but immediately lets go. He clutches his hand, which has been burnt by the contact with the amulet. 

"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable," Stephen comments. 

Maw snarls and threatens, "Then I'll take it off your corpse." He throws Stephen to the ground, who tries to start a spell, opening the Eye and gesturing, but Maw manipulates utility wire to tie down Stephen's arms, interrupting the spell and closing the Eye. The wire wraps around Stephen's body, trapping his arms to his sides and winding up his body, coiling around his throat.

"You'll find . . . removing a dead man's spell . . . troublesome," Stephen gasps out. 

"You'll only wish you were dead," Maw snarls. The wire tightens and Stephen falls unconscious. Maw picks up a slab of rock, tying Stephen to it. He starts to move it forward, towards the spaceship, but Cloak wriggles Stephen free and takes off, trying to get Stephen far way from Maw. "NO!" Maw yells.

~∆~

Tony and Peter are fighting Cull when Cloaky races pass with Stephen, Maw hot on it's fringe. 

"Kid, that's the wizard. Get on it," Tony orders as he dodges a swipe. 

"On it!" Peter says, swinging after Maw. 

Maw sends a billboard at Peter, who untangles himself from it and yells, "Not cool!" 

Street lights and other poles bend and shift, Maw trying to catch Cloak and Stephen. Cloak dodges again and again, but one pole manages to snag the edge of Cloak's fringe and tears Cloak away, sending Stephen into a free fall. Peter swings in and grabs Stephen before he hits the ground, but before Peter can get away with him, they're caught in the spaceship's beam and they start to float upwards.

 Peter webs a light pole, trying to anchor himself and Stephen, but Maw uproots the pole and sends Peter and Stephen floating up towards the ship. 

"Uhh, Mr. Stark? I'm being beamed up!" Peter yells through his intercom.

"Hang on, kid," Tony says. Cull's hammer transforms into a claw and pins Tony down, messing with the suit's screens. Again. Struggling against it, Tony can only watch as Cull leaps toward him, ready to deal the deadly blow. Then he's sucked through a portal, which closes as soon as the alien's body is through. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it closes as Cull turns back and starts to leap through, cutting off his head. Wong stares at the head, daring it to come alive and continue to attack New York.

Bruce kicks it away, making a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. 

Tony shoves the claw away; somehow it's power has been cut off, probably some life bond between the weapon and Cull. "Wong, you're invited to the official wedding."

"You're getting married?" Bruce asks, very confused.

"Long story, Wong will catch you up," Tony says before flying toward the spaceship. "Give me a little juice, Friday." The armor at his feet merge into one big thruster and Tony rockets towards the ship. 

~✧~

Maw walks to the controls on the ship, Stephen, still unconscious, floating limply behind him. The controls light up and as Maw taps them, the spaceship starts to slowly move away from Earth.

~∆~

Tony barrels toward the ship. "Unlock 17-A," he tells Friday. A pod launches from the Avengers Tower, which Tony decided to keep after the whole Vulture thing, and speeds towards the spaceship. "Peter, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you." 

"But you said to save the wizard!" Peter says, gasping for oxygen as he clings to the side of the ship. He pulls off his mask, breathing shallowly as he gasps for oxygen that isn't there. "I can't breathe!"

Tony's heart is breaking, because that is his son and he can't breath, just like their shared panic attacks. "You're too high up. You're running out of air," he explains, trying to keep it together for the kid.

"Yeah! That makes sense," Peter gasps out before he passes out and lets go of the ship. He free-falls for a second, but then the pod attaches itself to Peter's body, becoming the Iron Spider suit. Able to breath now, Peter wakes up and catches himself on the bottom of the ship, posing heroically, his sticky feet keeping him grounded.

Tony lets out a held in breath, knowing Peter's going to be okay now.

"Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!" Peter gleefully says, back to his hyper self. 

"Happy trails, kid. Friday, send him home," Tony says, not noticing that Friday puts Peter's destination as the tower. 

"Yep," Friday responds. 

A large parachute comes out of Peter's suit's back, and he's sent spiraling down back to Earth. 

" _ **OH, COME ON!**_ " Peter yells.

Tony latches on to the ship and uses a laser to get into the ship. He stands there, inside the ship, looking for any sign of Stephen or Maw or both. 

"Boss, incoming call from Miss Pots," Friday says, Pepper's face popping on screen next to the sign of a call.

"Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? Is Stephen okay? What's going on?" Pepper's voice says, sounding very worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stephen's been caught. I think that dinner we were going to do is going to be pushed back," Tony says.

"Why?" Pepper asks, the trepidation in her voice a telling sign of how much she suspects is happening.

Tony looks around the ship as he says, "Just 'cause I'll . . . probably not make it back for a while."

"Tell me you're not on that ship. Tell me Stephen isn't on that ship," Pepper pleads.

"Yeah. We're on the ship," Tony admits. 

"God, no. Tony . . ." Pepper begs. "Tony, please tell me you too aren't on that ship."

"Pep, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say," Tony says, feeling guilty.

"Come back here, Tony. I swear to God . . ." Pepper trails off.

"Pep . . ."

"Come back here right now! Come back!" Her voice has become frantic. The strain of everything that's happened in the past eight years has really stressed his best friend. Tony vows that when he gets back, he's going to treat Pepper to a good solid week or month of vacation. He can take over for her, give her a break.

"Boss, we're losing her. I'm going to . . ." Friday says.

"Friday, activate protocol With Suit, along with protocol Queen," Tony says.

"I'm back with you boss. Miss Pots's AI is online and in control of the tower and compound. She is also connected to Miss Pots's devices," Friday says.

"Thanks Friday," Tony responds.

~/╲/\\( •••• ω ••••)/\╱\~

Peter climbs into a quickly closing opening in the ship, having webbed himself back to the spaceship, and deactivating the parachute. 

"Oh my God!" he gasps, shocked at his actions and the fact that he's ON. A. REAL. SPACESHIP. He looks back at the quickly shrinking planet behind him. "I should have stayed on the bus . . ." 

~✧~

Maw's hands hold the controls, then he engages the ship and it jumps to hyperspace. 

~√~

Bruce crouches down and picks up Tony's flip-phone. Wong opens a portal back to the Sanctum. 

"Where you going?" Bruce asks.

"The Time Stone's been taken. The Sanctum remains unguarded. What will you do?" Wong replies in his Wong way.

"Could you explain Tony's wedding first?" Bruce asks.

Wong nods. "Stephen and Stark are married."

"What?!" Bruce exclaims, a little louder than normal.

"Long time ago. University days, I believe. They aren't validly married, or out, but they're going to get offically married soon."

"Oh, okay," Bruce says, nodding while trying to wrap his head around the idea. "I'm gonna make a call," as he holds up the phone.

Wong nods in understanding, walks through the portal, and closes it.

Bruce opens the phone and presses the call button.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? How was it?? Please tell me, I really want to know! If you want to see anything, a certain scene or something (no smut, but yes to kisses!), tell me! I'd love to try and write it in!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the love!! Your comments and kudos make my day!! I can't tell you how much this all means to me. Thank you thank you thank you!


	4. Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki end up on the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship. Thor needs a weapon, Loki has issues, Quill likes his food, Groot's a moody teenager, Gamora is the mom of the team, Drax sleeps, Rocket loves deadly objects, and Mantis is cute and innocent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I need to clarify something real quick. Some Asgardians did die on the ship. Loki wasn't able to save everyone. He wasn't quick enough or just didn't know where or what was happening. Not to mention, he had to protect Thor, Heimdall, and Bruce because knowing them, they'll throw themselves into dangerous situations and get killed because this is THANOS we're talking about and SOMEONE'S got to watch out for them/make sure Earth knows what's going on. 
> 
> Uh, please don't kill me! Or Loki; the poor child has enough issues to deal with.

**SPACE**

~~~

The guardians are all strapped into their seats, Quill and Rocket piloting the ship as "Rubberband Man" plays.

Quill's chair-dancing to the song, saying, "Sing it, Drax!"

Drax is asleep, snoring in his chair in front of Quill. Gamora lip-synchs to the song along with Quill.

Rocket yawns. "Why are we doing this again?'

"It's a  _distress signal_ , Rocket," Gamora huffs, annoyed. "Someone could be  _dying_."

"I get that, but why are we doing it?"

" 'Cause we're nice. And maybe whoever it is will give us a little cheddar cheese for our help," Quill replies.

"Which isn't the point," Gamora says, waving her index finger at Quill. Honestly, her boyfriend sometimes . . .

"Which isn't the point . . . ," Quill concedes, pointing his finger at Gamora in acknowledgement. "I mean . . . If he doesn't pony up . . ."

"We'll take his ship," Drax states, suddenly awake.

"Exactly!" Rocket laughs.

"B-b-b-bingo!" Quill calls like a sports announcer.

Gamora looks at Quill in concern. He grimaces at her, silently telling her they won't do that. 

"We are arriving," Mantis says, reading her console.

"All right, Guardians. Don't forget, this might be dangerous, so let's put on our mean faces," Quill says. 

Mantis snarls as a teenage Groot rolls his eyes. His Terran, hand-held video game beeps. 

"Groot, put that thing away. Now. I don't wanna tell you again," Quill warns. The game keeps beeping. "Groot."

"I am Groot," Groot mockingly says.

"Whoa!" Quill yells.

"Language!" Rocket yells.

"Hey!" Gamora says, acting like a disappointed parent.

"Wow," Drax says.

"You got some actions on you, kid," Quill says.

"Ever since you got a little sap, you're a total d-hole. Keep it up, and I'm gonna  _smash that thing to pieces_!" Rocket threatens.

Groot just rolls his eyes.

The ship slows down and suddenly they're among the wreckage of the Asgardian ship. The ship is destroyed, thousands of pieces floating around the skeleton of the ship. Bodies float away from the ship, Asgardians brutally murdered.

"What happened?" Mantis whispers, horrified as the Guardians stare in shock.

"Looks like we're not getting paid," Rocket says.

"Well no, you're not," Loki says from behind the Guardians. 

~{ * } ϟ~

"Who the hell are you?" Quill demands, holding Thor and Loki at gun point.

"Loki?" Gamora asks, confused.

"Hello Gamora," Loki says.

"Let's kill them!" Rocket yells.

"You couldn't if you tried, little rabbit," Thor says.

"Oh yeah?!" Rocket yells.

"Can everyone please just calm down?" Loki asks calmly. 

"Stand down," Gamora says, lowering her sword.

The Guardians lower their weapons as Groot keeps playing his game. 

"Thank you," Loki says. "-"

Thor falls to the ground, unconscious.

~•°.°•~

Thor's patched up, eating soup, and sitting down on a bench with Loki as the Guardians stand around them. 

"The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal: To bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life. He used to kill people planet by planet, massacre by massacre . . ." Gamora explains.

"Including my own," Drax says.

"If he gets all six Infinity Stones, he can do it with a snap of his fingers, like this." Gamora snaps and Loki winces.

"You seem to know a great deal about Thanos," Thor says.

"Gamora is a daughter of Thanos," Loki explains, emotionless.

"Your father killed my people," Thor states, getting up and striding towards Gamora aggressively.

"Oh, boy. Stepfather. Technically, she hates him as much as you do," Quill says, panicking.

"Families can be tough," Thor says, clamping a hand on Gamora's shoulder. "Before my father died, he told me I had a half-sister . . . that he imprisoned in Hel. Then she returned home, and stabbed me in the eye, so . . . I had to kill her. It's life, isn't it, I guess. Goes round and round and . . . I feel your pain."

Loki sighs. "Oh yes, so difficult. Not like I was taken away from my family forever or raised to believe my biological people are monsters; no, that  _never_ happened. Not like I had my brain highjacked by Thanos and suffer from love and trust issues. Not like I have problems with depression or accepting myself. She's  _defineitily_ the  _only_ one who needs your sympathy," he gripes, his jaw tight and his fingers digging into his arms, obviously trying to not cry.

At the same time, Quill glares at Thor's hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and shoves his way inbetween the two, saying, "And I feel your pain, as well. I mean it's not a competition, but I've been through a lot. My father killed my mother, then I had to kill my father. And that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I, came out of it with both my eyes-"

Thor puts an arm around Loki and leads him away a little bit, saying sofly, lovingly, "We talked about this dear." The last thing the Guardians see before Thor blocks the view is Loki's face, green magic flickering around it, revealing what they assume to be his true face, as it's bloody and he has tear tracks washing some of the watered-down blood onto his neck.

"What the hell Quill?" Rocket says.

"What?" Quill asks, trying to play everything off as nothing.

"You know very well what," Gamora says, leaning against the ship.

"What? That dude trying to be all cool and stuff?-" Quill answers.

Drax cuts him off. "He is not a dude. You're a dude. He . . . He is a man. A handsome, muscular man," Drax says in awe, staring at Thor's back.

"I'm muscular," Quill argues weakly.

"Who are you kidding, Quill?" Rocket says, "You're one sandwich away from fat."

"Yeah, right," Quill says, trying to wave it off, but secretly planning on working out more.

"It's true," Drax comments. "You have gained a little weight . . ." He gestures at his chin and belly. 

Quill gaps at his team, shocked. "What? Gamora, do you think I'm . . ." She stares at Thor too.

"It's like a pirate had a baby with an angel," Drax mutters. 

"Wow. This is a real wake-up call for me. Okay. I'm gonna get a Bowflex. I'm gonna commit. I'm gonna get some dumbbells," Quill rambles. 

"You know you can't eat dumbbells, right?" Rocket snarks. 

Thankfully, for Quill, the two gods return to the group with Loki back to being clean and Thor muttering, "I need a hammer, not a spoon . . ." as he sets down the soup. 

"What are you doing?" Quill asks.

"Taking your pod," Thor says, tapping a screen next to said pod. 

"No, you're not!" Quill says, deepening his voice. He mimics Thor's accent, saying, "You'll not, be taking taking our pod today, sir."

Loki laughs quietly as Rocket stares at Quill. "Quill. Are you making your voice deeper?" he asks, already knowing that yes, his teammate is in fact, deepening his voice.

"No," Quill replies, in the deep voice.

"You are. You're imitating the god-man. It's weird," Drax observes.

"No I'm not," Quill protests, still in the deep voice and still copying the gods' accents.

Loki continues to quietly laugh in the background, shoulders trembling from withheld laughter. Mantis gasps. "He just did it again!" The way she says it, completely shocked, makes Loki laugh harder, forcing him to press a fist against his mouth to contain the laughter.

"This is my voice!" Quill argues, in what shall be called his "Thor voice". 

Thor steps threateningly towards Quill. "Are you mocking me?"

"Are you mocking me?" Quill parrots back.

"Stop it. You did it again," Thor points out.

"He's trying to copy me," Quill mocks, looking at his team.

"Would you stop doing that?" Thor orders, annoyed. Loki doubles over, laughing. "He's doing it first!" 

"Enough!" Gamora yells, immediately ending the two's mocking. Loki stands up, grinning like he so rarely does. "We need to stop Thanos." Everyone's mood crashes after that. Thanos tends to be a joy-crasher. "Which means we need to find out where he's going next."

"Knowhere," Loki supplies.

"He must be going somewhere," Mantis comments sweetly. Loki smiles softly.

"No. Knowhere? It's a place. We've been there. It sucks." Quill says to Mantis. He turns to Thor. "Excuse me, that's our food," he says, as Thor's digging through the Guardians' food. 

"Not anymore," Thor answers.

"Loki . . . Why would he go to Knowhere?" Gamora asks, trying to focus the conversation.

"Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored there with a man called the Collector," Loki replies.

Thor stares at Loki in confusion, before shrugging it off and going back to the food.

"If it's with the Collector, then it's not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a Stone," Quill says.

"Or a genius," Thor argues, grinning as he puts the food into the pod. It has been his idea to put it on Knowhere with the Collector.

"How do you know he's not going for one of the other Stones?" Gamora asks the gods.

"There's six Stones out there." Thor straightens up. "Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it last week, when he decimated Xandar." All of the Guardians' faces fall at the news. Groot stops his video game and stares, disbelief written on his face. "Loki has the Space Stone, and Thanos has no idea where he is. The Time Stone is being guarded by a very powerful wizard-" 

"Sorcerer," Loki cuts in. "I hate that man."

"-and the Mind Stone is safe on Earth. It's with the Avengers," Thor continues.

"The Avengers?" Quill asks.

"They're Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Thor explains.

"Like Kevin Bacon?" Mantis asks. Groot starts up his game again.

Thor pauses. "He may be on the team. I don't know. Haven't been there in a while. As for the Soul Stone, well, no one's ever seen that." Gamora tenses. "No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can't get it. Therefore, he's going to Knowhere. Hence, he'll be getting the Reality Stone. You're welcome."

"Then we have to go to Knowhere now," Gamora declares. 

"Wrong! Where we have to go, is Nivadellir," Thor says.

"That's a made up word," Drax says.

"All words are made up," Thor mutters. Loki stares at Thor in shock then smiles. 

"I didn't know you had it in you,  _mitt lyn,_ " Loki says. "There are brain cells in there!" 

"Hold up, Nivadellir is real?" Rocket gasps, climbing on top of the table. "Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend." He gets more and more gleeful as he speaks. "They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the Universe. I would very much like to go there, please."

Loki smirks at the raccoon. Thor grins and says, "The rabbit is correct, and clearly the smartest among you."

"Rabbit?" Rocket mutters.

"Only Eitri the dwarf king can make me the weapon I need," Thor declares. He addresses Rocket. "I assume you're the captain, sir?"

"You're very perceptive," Rocket responds, smirking.

"You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nivadellir?" Thor requests.

"Lemme just ask the captain. Oh, wait a second, it's me! Yeah, I'll go."

"Wonderful," Thor says, before turning to Loki. "Secure the Reality Stone, then alert the Avengers. I'll join you there," he says quieter.

Loki nods. "Do be safe,  _lure_. Do not go about battling everything you set your sights on and return  _as soon as your weapon is ready._ Thanos moves fast and Earth will need you."

"I will be swift," Thor swears, clasping his and Loki's right hands in-between themselves, staring into each other's eyes over their joined hands.

Meanwhile, as Thor and Loki have their little moment, Quill protests, saying, "Except for that I'm the captain."

"Quiet!" Rocket orders gleefully. 

"That's my backpack."

"Go sit down," the raccoon orders as he stuffs Quill's backpack with parts.

"Look, this is my ship," Quill says to Rocket. "And I'm not goin' to . . ." He tries to say Nivadellir but fails. "Wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about here?"

The Guardians turn to Thor, who is cupping the left side of Loki's face with his left hand.

"The Thanos killing kind," Thor answers, slowly removing his hand as their hands let go of each other. Loki steps back, nodding.

"Don't you think we should all have a weapon like that?" Quill asks.

"No. You simply lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies will crumble as your minds collapse into the madness," Thor explains.

"Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?" Rocket asks, grinning.

"A little bit," Thor confirms.

"Yes," Loki says right after Thor. "Trust me. I have experienced madness," Loki says, face darkening as he talks. "It destroys you until you can no longer remember what point there is in living within a manner of seconds. Madness is nothing to be taken lightly."

"If we don't go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another Stone, he'll be too powerful to stop," Gamora argues after a couple seconds. 

"He already is," both gods mutter darkly.

"I got it figured out. We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. So me and Groot will go with the pirate-angel here, and the morons and black cat will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos. Cool? Cool," Rocket declares.

"Did you just call him a pirate-angel and I, a black cat?" Loki asks amusedly, as Thor says "So cool" and grins. 

"For the record . . .," Quill says to Rocket, "I know that you're only going with him because it's where Thanos isn't."

"You know, Quill, you shouldn't talk that way to your  _captain,_ Quill," Rocket responds. He climbs into the pod before leaning out of it. "Come on, Groot. Put that game down, you'll rot your brain."

"I bid you farewell and good luck, morons and  _magi,_ " Thor calls out as Groot shuffles into the pod. "Bye."

Loki faintly blushes at Thor's nickname for him as the left behind Guardians wave or nod goodbye to the departing pod. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mitt lyn = my lightning  
> lure = fool  
> magic = magic (all are in Norwegian)
> 
> So, how was it? You guys still here? Did I get the characters' voices or do you think I missed their personalities? Comment and tell me!
> 
> Also, thank you thank you thank you to all you readers, for reading this and kudo-ing!!!! You guys mean so much to me and I love you all!


	5. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda and Vision are in love and are attacked by aliens. Then Team Cap appears.
> 
> Aka: Vision is awkward and adorable, Wanda is the responsible one, Steve wants to go home, Nat is done with love birds, and Sam kicks butt. 
> 
> Also also, Gamora has a flashback and forces a promise from Quill. 
> 
> Aka: Gamora expects to die and Quill doesn't understand (which isn't new).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for those who caught a small peek at this chapter (or saw that I updated then saw that nope, there wasn't another chapter), I am so sorry! I hit the post button by accident and had to save a copy, delete the chapter, and paste. Here's the REAL chapter, so sorry for inconvenience!!

**SCOTLAND**

~~~

Wanda sits on the bed in a fancy hotel room, while Vision, in a human glamor, stands by the large window.

High pitched trilling comes from the Stone and Vision gasps, clutching the spot where the Mind Stone is in pain.

"Vis? Is it the Stone again?" Wanda asks, rushing to his side. 

"It's as if it's speaking to me," Vision says, sounding awed but at the same time confused. 

"What does it say?" 

"I don't . . . I don't know. But something . . ."

The Stone trills again and Vision winces in pain. Wanda cups Vision's face with her hands. He turns his head and kisses her left palm, before guiding her hand to the Stone. 

"Tell me what you feel," he whispers.

Wanda summons her magic and red glows around her fingers. She stares at the Stone, confusion playing across her face. 

"I just feel you," she whispers back, deactivating her magic and lowering her hand. They kiss. 

~๑ ( • )~

The two lovers stroll the streets. It's night, and very few people are out. 

"So there's a 10 A.M. to Glasgow to give us more time together before you go back," Wanda says.

"What if I miss that train?" Vision asks.

"There is an 11."

Vision turns and takes Wanda's hands into his own. "What if I missed all the trains? What if this time, I didn't go back?"

"You gave Stark your word," Wanda protests, longing evident on her face.

"I'd rather give it to you. Tony would understand." 

Wanda pulls away, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "There are people who are expecting me too, you know. We both made promises," she says, heartbreak in her voice.

"Not to each other," Vision says, stepping closer. He grips Wanda's shoulders, staring into her eyes. "Wanda . . . For two years, we've stolen these moments, trying to see if this could work. And . . . I don't know." He starts stammering, very nervous. "You know what, I'm just gonna speak for myself. -I, I . . . I think . . ."

"It works," Wanda confirms.

"It works," Vision repeats, taking the lifeline Wanda's thrown him. His hands drift down, clutching her hands in his. "Then stay. Stay with me."

Wanda glances down, then looks up at her left. She stares at it.

"Or not. If I'm overstepping . . ." Vision trails off, uncertain. Wanda drifts toward the pub they stopped at, pulling Vision along.

They stare at a TV, which is showing the spaceship at New York, Maw and Cull, and the five heroes. The print underneath the headline reads, "Tony Stark, Spider-Man, and a wizard along with the aliens disappeared with the spaceship. Another wizard and Bruce Banner disappeared after the ship left." 

"What are they?" Wanda asks Vision, worried.

"What the Stone was warning me about," Vision states. He kisses her hand. "I have to go."

"No, Vision. Vision, if that's true . . . Then maybe going isn't the best idea."

"Wanda, I . . ." Vision is stabbed through the stomach by Corvus Glaive. Vision screams, his glamor falls, revealing his gold, red-purple, and dark green-grey self. Glaive tosses Vision down the street. 

"Vision!" Wanda yells, waving her hands, gathering her magic. Right before Wanda attacks, Proxima Midnight blasts her from behind, knocking her across the street and into a shop's wall. 

Glaive pins Vision down and sticks his weapon, which happens to be a glaive, into Vision's forehead, beginning to pry the Stone out. 

Wanda blasts the aliens away, lifts Vision and herself to a courtyard away from the aliens, then lifts Vision into an alley. She sets him down on the ground and kneels next to him.

"The blade. It stopped me from phasing," Vision observes, catching his breath. 

"Is that even possible?" Wanda asks, glancing around.

"It isn't supposed to be," Vision answers. His voice starts glitching, sounding more like a robot than his real voice. "My systems are failing." Wanda gestures at his wound, her magic knitting Vision back together. "I'm beginning to think . . . we should have stayed in bed." 

Glaive appears and pushes Wanda away from Vision, grabbing Vision and holding him by his throat.

"Vis!" Wanda screams, Glaive flying away with Vision as he slams the Stone holder into several walls. Proxima attacks Wanda with her staff, and Wanda parties, her magic protecting her hands from the blade. 

~( • )~

"Give up the Stone, and she lives," Glaive orders.

Vision flies at Glaive, knocking him towards a church roof. He bounces off of the steeple and lands on the metal roof.

~๑~

Proxima and Wanda dance around each other, Wanda holding the staff off with her magic covered hands. The alien woman blasts Wanda and she goes flying, landing on her back, stunned. Proxima stabs at Wanda's face, who stops it an inch from her nose with her magic.

~( • )~

Vision, very angry now, beats Glaive then tosses him across the roof. He fires a beam from the Mind Stone, sending it straight at Glaive, who raises his weapon to block it. The beam burns through the weapon like a hot knife through butter, destroying the tip and searing Glaive's face, as he ducks right as the beam hits. Glaive screams in pain and throws his ruined weapon at Vision, who phases but it strikes him anyway, slamming him into the steeple.

~๑~

Wanda pushes Proxima's staff up, rolling away and springing up. Proxima growls and swings at her again, but Wanda blocks it. Vision cries out, and all Wanda sees is red. 

Proxima screams, as Wanda's magic quite literally _snaps her arm._ A large blast snaps the staff in half and Wanda flies up to the church roof, where Corvus has pinned Vision down and is prying the Stone out. 

"Hands off," Wanda orders, hatred and uncontainable anger soaking her words. She blasts Corvus off of the roof, sending him a couple meters away. The witch then flies herself and Vision away.

Proxima, using her one good arm, fires a blast at them from the working half of her staff. 

The two are hit, and fall through the Edinburgh Waverley Train Station roof. A crack comes from Wanda's leg, meaning it's broken. Wanda crawls over to Vision, who can't get up.

"Come on," she whispers, pleading. "Come one. Come on, you gotta get up. You gotta get up. Come on." Vision's eyes close. "Hey. Hey." His eyes crack open again, painfully slow. "We have to go."

"Please," Vision whispers. "Please leave." He struggles to sit up, and Wanda props him up against the railing. 

"You asked me to stay . . . I'm staying." Wanda cups Vision's face in her hands, a tear slipping down her cheek.

"You . . . need to leave . . . Stay safe," Vision protests, struggling for breath. He clutches his stomach, the new gash and partially healed one obviously the cause of his pain, not to mention the ring of damage around the Stone from Glaive's failed prying.

"Get up," Wanda pleads as Vision touches a hand to her wet cheek. 

Behind the two, Proxima and Glaive land, brandishing their broken weapons, Proxima holding the working half of the staff in her good hand. Glaive snarls at the lovers, the left side of his face charred black. 

Wanda stands in front of Vision, her broken leg barely holding any of her weight, tears streaming down her face as her magic glows around her, reacting to her anger and pain. 

An express train passes behind Wanda and Proxima cocks her head, as if she senses someone. Wanda looks back as well, confused as she knows that presence. But  _he_ couldn't be here . . .

A shadowy figure is revealed as the last train car passes by. The figure stands there, in the shadows.

Proxima throws her half-staff at the figure, who catches it without moving from their spot. Then the figure steps out of the shadows. 

Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America, with a short beard, beat up uniform, and no white star, emerges from the shadows holding Proxima's half-staff. And he looks furious.

Wanda and Vision both sigh in relief.

Sam, in his Falcon suit, kicks Proxima across the platform and through a cafe shop's metal gate. He loops around and starts shooting at Glaive.

At the same time, Steve throws Proxima's weapon to Natasha, as Black Widow. Glaive swings at her, she ducks and stabs him in the gut before executing a flying kick to his face, sending him backwards.

Proxima limps over, summoning her weapon back to her good hand. She rushes Natasha, but Steve leaps across the train tracks, rolls, grabs Glaive's dropped weapon, and blocks the blow. Natasha retaliates with her new weapons, electrically charged escrima sticks. The three begin fighting, though the battle is tipped in the former Avengers' favor. Sam then kicks her over towards Glaive. She scuttles next to him, glaring at the humans. Same draws his pistols, aiming at the two.

"Get up," Proxima orders to Glaive.

"I can't," Glaive growls.

"We don't wanna kill you," Natasha says coolly. "But we will."

"You'll never get the chance again," Proxima sneers.

A blue beam surrounds the two, but then red magic backhands them into a concrete wall. The crumpled bodies appear lifeless, but the blue beam reappears around them and sucks them up. Glaive's weapon is sucked up as well, straight from Steve's iron grip. 

The group walks over to Wanda and Vision, the former who has collapsed next to the latter. 

"Can either of you stand?" Sam asks. Wanda shakes her head.

Electricity crackles over Vision's body and his voice starts to sound robotic as he replies, "Thank you, Captain." 

Steve nods as Natasha and Sam help Wanda and Vision up. "Let's get you on the jet."

~(✩)~

Natasha closes the Quinjet door and addresses Wanda, saying, "I thought we had a deal. Stay close, check in. Don't take any chances."

"I'm sorry. We just wanted time," Wanda replies from a seat next to Vision.

"Where to, Cap?" Sam asks from the the pilot seat. 

"Home," Steve says. 

~•°.°•~

Zen-Whoberi, Gamora's home planet. Thanos's soldiers are attacking her people, pulling them away from homes. Gamora, as a young girl, and her mother are hiding; they can hear the sound of guns and screaming.

"Shhh. We'll be safe. We'll be safe," her mother whispers.

An explosion goes off close by and Gamora screams instinctively.

A soldier orders something in a different language and the door is smashed in. Both Zehobereians scream.

Outside is chaos. Chitauri chariots and ring-ships fly over head while explosions and energy beams beams criss cross the land, Zehobereians dying randomly. Smoke arises from different fires, clouding the scene.

"Zehobereians," Maw calls out. 

Gamora is dragged through the crowd, yelling, "Mother! Where's my mother?!" 

"Choose a side, or die," Maw orders the frightened aliens.

"Mother!" Gamora yells. She punches the arm of her captor, who surprisingly drops her arm and leaves. 

"One side is a revelation. The other, an honor known only to a few," Maw continues. The Zehobereians move to the sides.

Gamora turns and sees Thanos in his full Titan armour. 

"What's wrong, little one?" Thanos asks.

"My mother. Where is my mother?" Gamora asks, pleading.

"What's your name?" Thanks kneels down next to Gamora.

"Gamora."

"You're quite the fighter, Gamora. Come. Let me help you." He offers Gamora his hand. She wraps her small fingers around one of Thanos's fingers. He leads her to a pavilion where he crouched down to her level again and produces a small, for him, red-jeweled handle. Pressing a switch, two razor sharp blades pop out of each end. "Look. Pretty, isn't it? Perfectly balanced." Thanos balances the handle on one of his fingers. "As all things should be. Too much to one side, or to the other . . ." He tilts one side too much purposefully and catches it before it falls. "Here. You try." He hands the dagger to Gamora. It's as long as two of her hands. She tries to balance it on her index finger.

"Now go in peace, and meet your Maker," Maw says in the background. 

One side of the crowd is shot down as the survivors on the other side scream in terror. 

Gamora tries to look back, but Thanos prevents her from seeing the massacre.

"Concentrate. There! You've got it," he says, smiling as she balances the dagger.

Gamora, now in the present, is brooding on the Guardians' ship, activating the blades on the same dagger. 

"Gamora. Do you know if these grenades are the 'blow off your junk' kind or the gas kind? 'Cause I was thinking I might hang a couple on my belt right here," Quill says, hands gesturing where on his belt he means. "But I don't want to-"

"I need to ask a favor," Gamora says, interrupting Quill.

"Yeah, sure." He walks over to her.

"One way or another, the path that we're on leads to Thanos."

"Which is what the grenades are for." Gamora sends him a withering glare. "I'm sorry. What's the favor?" 

"If things go wrong . . . If Thanos gets me . . . I want you to promise me . . . you'll kill me."

Quill stares at her, confused. "What?"

"I know something he doesn't. If he finds out . . . The entire universe could be at risk."

"What do you know?" Quill asks nervously.

"If I tell you, you'd know to."

"If it's so important, shouldn't I?"

"Only if you wanna die." 

"Why does somebody always have to die in this scenario?" Quill whispers.

"Just . . . trust me. And possibly, kill me."

"I mean, I'd like to. I really would . . ." Gamora silences him with her hand.

"Swear to me. Swear to me on your mother." She looks dead into his eyes, determination and sorrow pooling in her eyes. He stares at her, unwillingness and heartbreak in his eyes.

"Okay," he whispers after a beat. It's evident he doesn't want to say yes, but he loves Gamora too much to say no.

They kiss, sealing the promise, until a crunching noise startles both. They turn, and there's Drax, in a corner, eating chips. 

"Dude. How long have you been standing there?" Quill asks.

"An hour," Drax replies.

"An hour? Are you serious?"

"I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still . . . That I become invisible to the eye . . . Watch." Drax stands still, then slowly raises his hand to his mouth. 

"You're eating a zarg-nut," Quill observes. 

"But my movement . . . was so slow . . . that it's imperceptible."

"Mmm," Quill says. 

"No," Gamora and Quill say in sync, shaking their heads.

"I'm sure I'm invisible," Drax protests.

"Hi, Drax," Mantis says, passing by the group.

"Damn it," Drax says, walking away. 

"Well that was entertaining," Loki says, his illusion falling away. He's leaning against the opposite wall from the fed up couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY MARVEL FANDOM!!!! Over 100 kudos!! You guys are the best a fan writer could ever hope for! (I'm actually crying right now, you guys are too kind!)


	6. Broken Bubbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and the leftover Guardians confront Thanos.
> 
> Aka: Hearts be broken, bubbles be made, I am crying, the author questions life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE!! I'm posting not one, but TWO chapters! 
> 
> Now you may wonder, what's going on? You posted a chapter last week, and now you're posting two chapters this week! Well, my readers, I'm going on a trip for two weeks. The first week I won't have access to the beautiful, wonderful, blessed Internet, so I can't post or work on anything. The second week, I will have access, however I won't have a lot of time to be on, so I won't be able to post. Therefore, I'm pushing myself and posting twice so you guys have chapters to enjoy while I'm gone!

**KNOWHERE**

~~~

The Guardians' ship flies through the skull's eye socket. 

The formerly busy mining site is empty. No one on the streets, no workers working, no homes or pubs with lights on.

"This place looks deserted," Quill comments.

"I'm reading movement from the third quadrant," Drax says, reading from his display.

"Yep. I'm picking that up, too. Let's put it down right here."

The four Guardians and Loki sneak into the Collector's collection room. It's in ruins, most glass shattered and scorch marks mar the formerly clean floor. Thanos is threatening the Collector in the center of the room.

"I don't have it," the Collector protests.

"Everyone in the galaxy knows you'd sell your own brother if you thought it would add the slightest trinket to your pathetic collection," Thanos grumbles. 

Quill stops and makes the universal silent sign of 'halt'.

Everyone walks past him. Loki's magic flits around him as Gamora and Drax clutch their weapons and Mantis slowly flexes her fingers.

"I know you have the Reality Stone, Tivan. Giving it to me will spare you a great deal of suffering." Thanos presses one heavy boot to the Collector's chest. 

"I told you," the Collector gasps out. "I sold it. Why would I lie?"

"I imagine it's like breathing to you."

"Like suicide."

"So you do understand. Not even you would surrender something so precious."

"I didn't know what it was."

"Then you're more of a fool than I took you for. Last chance, charlatan. Where's the Stone?"

"Today . . ." Drax whispers.

"Drax. Drax," Quill harshly whispers.

". . . he pays for the deaths of my wife and daughter," Drax finishes.

"For my people . . ." Loki mutters.

"Hey. Loki, wait. Drax!" Quill hisses.

". . . He shall pay for the needless death!" Loki finishes.

"Drax, Loki, waaaaait!" Quill whispers. Drax draws his long dagger from his leg scabbard. "Not yet, not yet, not yet." Loki and Drax give Quill a look. Loki disappears and Drax heads towards Thanos. Quill quietly rushes after the visible crazy. "Drax, Drax, Drax. He doesn't have the Stone yet. We get it, and then we can stop him. We have to get the Stone first. Yeah." 

"No. No. For Ovette. For Camaria," Drax says under his breath. Quill struggles with Drax, then Mantis touches her fingertips to Drax's head. 

"Sleeeep," she intones. Drax is knocked out and falls. Before he can crash and alert Thanos to them, Drax is caught and gently set down. Loki appears, glares at Quill, then disappears again. 

Gamora hisses at Quill, "What are you doing?!"

"Nothing," Quill insists, before tripping and knocking over a box. 

Gamora locks scared eyes with Quill's terrified eyes.

Thanos looks over and shoves the Collector into a cage. He heads towards the sound. 

"Okay. Gamora, Mantis, you go right. I'm . . ." Quill panickly whispers. Gamora stalks toward Thanos. "The other right!"

Gamora leaps at Thanos from behind the boxes. He snaps her sword blade, but she stabs him in the throat with the stub of it. Thanos groans in pain while Gamora stabs him in the chest with the red dagger. 

"Why?" Thanos asks as he collapses to the ground. "Why you? Daughter . . ." He holds a hand up, blood gushing out of his neck wound, before he goes limp. Gamora starts sobbing.

"That was quick," Quill says, surprised.

"Magnificent! Magnificent! Magnificent!" the Collector cheers.

"Is it sadness I sense in you, daughter?" Thanos's disembodied voice says, filling the room. "In my heart, I knew you still cared. But one never knows for sure. Reality is often disappointing."

The scene disappears, revealing what actually is. The room is destroyed and on fire. The Collector waves goodbye as he and the cage disappear.

"That is, it was. Now . . . reality can be whatever I want," Thanos says. He is undamaged, with the red Reality Stone nestled in his gold gauntlet.

"You knew I'd come," Gamora says, her face wet, but she is no longer crying.

"I counted on it. There's something we need to discuss, little one."

Gamora hesitates, then reaches for her broken sword. Thanos grabs her by the back of her neck and pulls her in front of him.

"Thanos!" Drax yells. 

The Reality Stone pulses and Drax and Mantis become 'disasembled'. Drax turns into a pile of cubes and Mantis into a ribbon version of herself. 

"Let her go, Grimace!" Quill orders, coming out from behind the boxes, blasters pointed at Thanos. 

"Peter . . ." Gamora says.

"I told you to go right," Quill says, heartbroken because he knows what he has to do.

"Now? Really?" 

"You let her go!" 

"Ah, the boyfriend," Thanos mutters.

"I like to think of myself more as a Titan-killing long-term booty call. Let her go," Quill says.

"Peter . . ." Gamora tries again.

"Or I'm gonna blow that nutsack of a chin right off your face!" Quill threatens, stalling from his promise.

"Not him."

Quill trembles. He swallows, tears brimming.

"You promised!" Gamora screams. "You promised . . ."

Quill stares into her eyes. His finger on the trigger-

"Not now, Loki," Thanos orders, curling his fingers around air, the Power Stone lighting up. Loki screams, revealing the god kneeling on the ground to one side of Thanos. He clutches at his throat, which seems to be being crushed by some unseeable force. 

"Peter please . . ." Gamora pleads, tears running down her face.

"I told you to go right," Quill chokes out, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I love you, more than anything."

"I love you, too." Quill pulls the trigger on Gamora.

 

All that comes out is bubbles. Bubbles float out of the blaster, popping in Gamora and Quill's faces. 

"I like you," Thanos says sincerely. He fists his hand, and Loki wails. It fills the room, shattering everyone's hearts at the pure agony sound of it. After what feels like forever, he collapses to the ground and the Space Stone appears. Thanos grins and activates the Reality Stone, moving the Space Stone into a slot on the gauntlet.

Blue energy crackles around him as he receives the power of the Stone. Then he opens a portal and he and Gamora disappear through it. 

Quill kneels down, picking up Gamora's sword and staring at the spot she was a minute ago.

Drax and Mantis reassemble into their normal selves. Mantis curls up into herself, clutching her head, sobbing. Drax shudders and holds Mantis close. "Shhh," he whispers, slowly petting her hair.

Loki pushes himself up onto his forearms. His head hangs low, and he coughs painfully. Blood comes out from his mouth. " _Lyn,_ " he whimpers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyn = lightning


	7. A Home, a Fight, and a Movie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fugitives come home, Shuri becomes a stylist, and pop culture references are going to save Stephen.
> 
> Aka: Ross sucks, Bucky is going to get a makeover, and Peter's saving people with movie references.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK AND ALIVE PEEPS.
> 
> I missed you guys so much!! I can't wait to post more!!
> 
> So over the course of the two weeks of being gone, I've learned a lot about myself. That being this: writing this is my life blood. I love this so much, and I love you readers' comments and love. Keep commenting, it makes me all the more motivated to write!

**EARTH**

~~~

The Quinjet lands on the landing pad at the New Avengers Compound. Inside the building, Rhodey stands, facing the hologram of Secretary Ross, who does not look happy. 

"Still no word from Vision?" Ross asks.

"Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh," Rhodey replies, crossing his arms.

"On a stolen Quinjet with four of the world's most wanted criminals."

"You know they're only criminals because you've chosen to call them that, right, sir?" Rhodey points out, fed up with dealing with Ross. Why does Tony always get out of meetings? Sure he's off in space with his husband and son, battling aliens, but that's better than Ross!

"My God, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals my own."

"If it weren't for those Accords, Vision would've been right here."

"I remember your signature on those papers, Colonel."

Rhodey sighs. "That's right. And I'm pretty sure I've paid for that," he bites out, bitter. His legs, his boyfriend, his freedom, his time. How much more can he give up?

"You have second thoughts?"

"Not anymore." Rhodey stares into Ross's eyes as the fugitives walk in, Wanda limping with Nat helping her and Vision being practically carried in by Sam.

"Mr. Secretary," Steve says coolly.

"You got some nerve. I'll give you that," Ross responds, visibly holding back from yelling.

"You could use some of that right now," Nat snaps back, Wanda glaring at the hologram next to her.

"The world's on fire. And you think, all is forgiven?"

"I'm not looking for forgiveness," Steve says.  "And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost her best defender." Rhodey smiles tightly at that. They've come so far from hating each other. "So we're here to fight." Steve takes a step towards the hologram, eyes never leaving Ross's, fear flickering across Ross's face. "And if you wanna stand in our way . . . we'll fight you, too."

Ross looks at Rhodey. "Arrest them."

"All over it," Rhodey deadpans, rolling his eyes. He swipes across the computer, making the hologram disappear and the computer beeps twice before going silent. "That's a court-martial. It's great to see you, Cap." He smiles for the first time and they hug.

"You too, Rhodey," Steve says. Rhodey hugs Nat too, then looks at Sam. Vision leans against a table and gently pushes Sam towards his boyfriend. 

They give each other joyful smiles, and embrace, gripping the backs of each other's shirts, tears spilling out of clenched eyes. It's been too long. 

After a minute they let go and get a look at each other. 

"Well," Rhodey chuckles dryly, glancing at the other fugitives. "You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years."

"Yeah well, the hotels weren't exactly five star," Sam ruefully mutters.

"Uh, I think you look great," Bruce says, looking far more old and beat up than the last time the fugitives saw him. Nat spins around, staring at Bruce, who's hiding in the doorway of the opposite side of the room. "Uh . . . heh . . . Yeah. I'm back." He looks really sheepish, looking down at the ground.

"Hi, Bruce," Nat says tersely. Bruce winces and looks up into her eyes. 

"Nat," he whispers, everyone blown away by the amount of pain in his voice and eyes. He and Nat stare at each other.

"This is awkward," Sam whispers.

~A~

Nat, Bruce, Steve, Wanda, and Vision sit around a different room, briefing as Sam makes them coffee. It's going to be a long night.

"So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?" Rhodey says.

"And they can clearly find us," Wanda adds, her leg all bandaged up in a cast.

"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce asks.

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families, they're on house arrest," Nat explains.

"Who's Scott?" 

"Ant-Man," Steve says. Sam comes in, hears Ant-Man, and walks right back out. Rhodey holds back his laughter; of course he heard about the two's battle, Sam's still embarrassed about the defeat. 

"There's an Ant-Man  _and_  a Spider-Man?" Bruce asks, so confused. "Okay, look . . .  Thanos has the biggest army in the universe. And he is not gonna stop until he . . . he gets . . . Vision's Stone." Vision sighs quietly as Wanda gets a protective look on her face.

"Well then, we have to protect it," Nat says.

"No, we have to destroy it," Vision insists, standing up. Through a mixture of Wanda's magic and the Stone's magic, they'd healed him back to perfect health. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature," he says as he walks slowly over to Wanda, "perhaps . . . its molecular integrity could fail."

Wanda looks into his eyes. He's still in his original form, the more robotic one. She loves him either way, because his eyes are always the same.  _He's_ the same either way. "And you, with it. We're not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the Stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it," Vision argues softly. 

"That's too high a price." Wanda's eyes water. 

Vision oh so gently cups her face in his hands. "Only you have the power to pay it."

"What about staying?" Wanda whispers, a tear spilling over. "What about staying Vision?" 

"Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him," Vision whispers sorrowfully. 

Steve looks down. "But it should." He looks up at Vision and Wanda. "We don't trade lives, Vision."

Vision turns to Steve, his hands falling away from Wanda's face. "Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?"

Steve takes a breath, about to say "because my best friend/boyfriend had fallen off a cliff and there wasn't a reason to go on", when Bruce speaks up, stepping closer. 

"Because  _you_  might have a choice. Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. JARVIS, Ultron, Tony, me, the Stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another."

"You're saying Vision isn't just the Stone?" Wanda asks hopefully, her hand grabbing one of Vision's hands.

"I'm saying that if we take out the Stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"Can we do that?" Nat asks.

Bruce hesitates, then says, "Not me. Not here."

"You better find someone, and somewhere fast. Ross isn't exactly just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back," Rhodey says. "I would, however the government's gonna be all over this by morning."

"If not sooner," Sam adds, coming in with coffee.

"I know somewhere," Steve says thoughtfully. 

 

**WAKANDA**

~~~

T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, and two Kingsguards walk towards a rural goat farm.

"You'll have the Kingsguard, and the Dora Milaje have been alerted," Okoye lists off.

"And the Border Tribe?" T'Challa asks.

"Those that are left." A trace of sorrow flits across the  royals and Okoye's faces. 

"Send word to the Jabari as well. M'Baku likes a good fight." Shuri snorts at that and Okoye and T'Challa grin for a moment before becoming serious again.

"And what of this one?" 

"This one may be tired of war." They watch from a distance as Bucky stacks a bale of hay from a partly-filled cart onto a small pile of bales while some village children watch him. The children and Bucky have formed a bond; he never seems to mind the kids watching him or playing with his goats and the children don't mind that he rarely speaks. "But the White Wolf has rested long enough."

The royal party reaches Bucky, the kids leaving when they saw the serious faces of the adults. One of the Kingsguards sets down a high-tech, elaborate equipment case down on the cart, opens the lid, then retreats back behind the king. 

Bucky approaches the case and stares without emotion at the sleek sliver Vibranium arm with gold joints. He sighs with resignation. "Where's the fight?"

"On its way," T'Challa answers.

"Along with your boyfriend," Shuri adds. 

Bucky brightens up. "Steve?" A goat screams in the background. "No not you Steve, the other one. The human idiot," he says without turning towards the goat.

"Big mood," Shuri says. 

"Have you met the guy?" 

"Have you seen yourself?"

Bucky starts panicking. "Shit."

"Don't worry," Shuri says, patting his back. "We're gonna make sure you go into battle in style."

~✧~

Maw slowly walks around Stephen, who is horizontally suspended, face down, surrounded by hundreds of two foot long crystal needles.

"In all the time I've served Thanos, I've never failed him," Maw says. "If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be . . . judgement." The needles contact Stephen's face, driving themselves into him, icy-looking patches appearing around the contact point. His face twists into a pained expression, but he doesn't let so much as a whimper out. "Give me . . . the Stone."

~∆~

Tony watches the torture from above, hidden from Maw's view. Cloaky curls around Tony's arm, trying to comfort him. "You okay?" Cloaky bobs his collar. "We'll get him back," Tony reassures. "He'll need his loyal piece of outerwear before this is done."

"Yeah uh, speaking of loyalty . . ." Peter says, silently dropping behind the two from where he stuck to the ceiling.

"What the-" 

"I know what you're gonna say," Peter starts, making the 'calm down' motion with his hands.

"You should not be here." Tony isn't mad per say, but nervous. And worried. Cloaky lets go of Tony's arm to cross its corners that act like arms, looking like a disappointed parent.

"I was gonna go home-"

"I don't wanna hear it."

"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way . . ."

"And now I gotta hear it." Tony throws up his hands, exasperated. Cloaky shakes its collar in sympathy and shrugs.

 **"**. . . And I kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way." Tony cracks a smile. Well of  _course_ it is, he made it for his son. "So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."

Cloaky, somehow, manages to look shocked.

"What did you just say?" 

Peter backtracks immediately. "I take that back. And now I'm here in space."

"Yeah." Tony walks up to Peter and stands right in front of him. "Right where I don't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. It's one-way ticket. You hear me?" He pauses, leaving out the 'you could die' part. He won't let that happen. "Don't pretend like you thought this through. You could not have possibly thought this through."

"No. I did think this through."

"You could not have possibly thought this through." 

"It's just . . . you can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man when there's no neighborhood." Peter pauses, and watches for Tony's reaction. Tony's 'what are you going on about' face is not what he was looking for. "Okay. That didn't really make any sense, but you know what I'm trying to say." 

Tony sighs. Yeah, he knows. But he wishes he didn't. He breathes in shakily. Time to show the kid what they're dealing with. "Come on. We got a situation." He leads Peter to the overview of Stephen's torture. Peter crouched down, studying the layout. Cloaky leans over his shoulder, seemingly watching too. "See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go." Tony refuses to watch Stephen in pain for more than a couple seconds. It just breaks his heart.

"Um. Okay, okay . . . uh . . ." Peter and Cloaky pop up. "Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie,  _Aliens_?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XD Peter's so adorable isn't he? 
> 
> Anyways, in the chapters in the future, there will be a scene about how Bucky got so cleaned up. Shuri totally doesn't help at all.... ;)


	8. The Engagement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen gets saved from the needles, the husbands drop the lie, and Peter gets invited to the wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! I'm so sorry for not posting earlier, I'm starting school very soon and the story just didn't want to work with me.

Stephen bites his lip, blood spilling out of the cut his teeth have made. Maw smirks at Stephen, who has been trying his best to not let out a pained sound but has screamed more than a couple times.

"Painful aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them . . ." A thud from behind Maw has him turning around to see Iron Man standing there, hand repulsors aimed and ready to fire at Maw. " . . . Could end your friend's life in an instant." 

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend." Thank whatever's up there in the sky that Maw can't see through his mask, because that is such a lie, even Tony Stark can't keep a poker face. "Saving his life is more a professional courtesy." Stephen meets Tony's eyes, and he can hear what the sorcerer would say if he could. Something along the lines of "Anthony Edward Stark-Strange, I have, in all my life, never heard such a blatant lie said about me, and I've heard that I don't have a heart, which is impossible, because I am both alive and in love with you."

Maw stalks toward Tony, very large metal objects floating in his wake. "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."

Tony smirks under the mask. "Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies." He fires a rocket from his shoulder into the wall, creating a hole in the ship. It causes depressurization, which sucks Maw and his floating objects out into the vacuum of space. Stephen is sucked out of the suspension and needles, headed for the hole. He's helpless to resist, the needles' effect causing him to be practically paralyzed. Cloaky wraps itself around Stephen, fighting against the depressurization. Peter swings in, a web strand connecting Stephen and Cloaky to him. He braces himself against the ship, holding on and trying to pull them in. Peter whips around, debris flying past him. Tony sprays nano-particles at the hole, closing it. But it isn't enough.

Peter gets hit by a big piece of debris, losing his hold and he, Stephen, and Cloaky get sucked into the hole. Peter's suit sends out it's metal spider legs, catching Peter on the edges of the hole. Stephen and Cloaky are caught in an air tunnel, the air from the ship spiraling out and keeping Stephen alive . . . for now. 

"Yes! Wait what are those?!" Peter yells, clutching the web in his hands. He had chosen the strongest web he and Tony had made so far, and apparently it worked against space vortexes.

Peter strains, and laboriously pulls Stephen and Cloaky into the ship. He flings all of them over to the side, Tony filling the hole with nanos as soon as his family is out of danger. Tony sees Maw's body, covered in ice, for a few seconds before the hole is fully closed. Cloaky gently lays Stephen on the floor as Peter lands lightly on his feet, the spider legs retracting, and Tony calls his armor back. 

Tony walks over to Stephen's en-Cloaked body, and kneels down. "Are you okay?" 

Stephen groans. "I've had worst-"

"You had painkillers then. We're in space, Gandalf. Are you going to be okay?"

Glowing orange tendrils float around Stephen's body for a minute, then fades away. He stands up, Tony following, Cloaky resting comfortably on Stephen's shoulders "Nothing magic can't help with."

Tony smiles tightly. "You wanna tell the kid or-"

"Tony, he's enhanced. Besides, you trust him. And I trust you." They're leaning towards each other, heads barely an inch apart. 

"Now kiss." The two husbands crack up, scaring Peter, who was already regretting everything after accidentally saying that out loud. He'd remembered that one meme format where two people leaned close to each other and someone said 'now kiss', BUT HE HADN'T MEANT TO ACTUALLY SAY IT!

"I mean, we could," Tony murmurs seductively, smirking after regaining his composure. 

"We could," Stephen flirts right back at Tony. "However, it seems you've moved on." He gestures at Tony's ring, smirking. 

Tony mock-gasps, clutching his heart. "Pete, you hear this oblivious wizard? Where'd that intellectual doctor I married go?"

Peter stares at the two, so confused. Are they in love?? He'd been joking . . .

"Hmm, probably where his car crashed, his career ended, he became broke, and disappeared from the media's view."

"When you put it that way, it sounds like he died."

"He did."

Tony looks at Stephen. "If that's the case, I better re-propose. Pete, what do you think? Should I re-propose? I think I need to re-propose." He goes down on one knee, causing Stephen to smile with tears brimming his eyes. Cloaky shifts off of Stephen's shoulders to float next to Peter, in front of the proposal, because it wants the best seat to watch this happen. "Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange, I know I asked you this question a long time ago, back when we were young and it was basically a miracle we even saw underneath each other's masks, but, and I think you agree with me on this, we've changed since then. And I know the last time we got married, it was kinda illegal and we didn't have a proper event and our only witness was my AI, and our rings are kinda outdated . . ." He gulps, suddenly nervous. "So, I'm thinking, if you'll have me, we could get married, with a proper event and celebration and stuff, legally, with our friends? And new rings, ones that reflect who we are now?" He pulls the ring he's wearing off and, along with a bracelet he pulls from his pocket, holds them up to Stephen. "Will you take me as I am: a mechanic, Iron Man, a guy with insomnia and seriously messed up problems, someone who can't get away from the spotlight?"

"Only if you'll take me as I am: a doctor who can't be a doctor," Stephen replies, trembling slightly from holding back his tears. "Sorcerer Supreme, a man who's died thousands of times, someone damaged." 

Tony swallows thickly. "In a heartbeat," he whispers. "Doctor Sorcerer Supreme Stephen Vincent Strange, asshole, will you offically marry me?" 

Stephen nods yes, his trembling hands cupping Tony's hands. "Yes. God Tony, yes, of course I will, douchebag!" Tony grins and stands up, slipping the bracelet onto Stephen's wrist before sliding his ring back on his own finger. They kiss, and Cloaky motions as if it's wiping a tear from its collar. 

"Aww," Peter says. "I better be invited to the wedding Mr. Stark! I mean, if you want me there I'll definitely come but you don't have to invite me if you don't want to, I mean it is your wedding-"

"You're invited kid, don't worry about."

"Woah, thanks Mr. Stark!"

"I've told you, call me Tony."

Stephen laughs at the two, glancing out the front port and seeing the stars streaking past the window. He pales. "We've gotta turn this ship around."

"Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan," Tony complains.

"No, I want to protect the stone, you, the kid, and our world," Stephen argues.

Tony walks closer to the front port and Stephen, staring out at the stretched light. "And you haven't thanked me yet for saving your life!" He redirects the argument, running through his options, trying to figure out what to do next about Thanos.

"Save my life? I just agreed to marry you, douchebag, after you nearly got me blasted into space!"

"Yeah, and saved your magical ass!"

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet."

"Admit it. If you had taken the battle into the Mirror Dimension, we won't be here."

"I've told you Tony, normal humans can't survive in the Mirror Dimension!"

"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup," Tony continues.

Peter raises his hand. "I'm backup."

"No. You're a stowaway." Tony gestures between himself and Stephen. "The adults are talking."

"Technically, it's the fiancés who talking, you're," Stephen points at Tony, "still a child."

Peter laughs. "Mood. I'm Peter, by the way."

"Dr. Strange." Tony wanders away towards the controls.

"Oh, we're using our made-up names. Um . . . I'm Spider-Man, then."

"Uh, my name  _is_ Strange."

"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot," Tony interrupts. 

Stephen and Peter walk over to Tony. "Can we control it? Fly us home?" his fiancé asks. Tony stares off, lost in his bad memories. "Tony?"  

"Yeah?" 

"Can you get us home?"

"Yeah, I heard you." Stephen frowns, knowing that's not quite true. "I'm thinking . . . I'm not so sure we should."

"Tony, if we go home we have the home field advantage. If we go to Thanos, he has the advantage. Are you sure we want him to have that advantage?"

"I don't know. This is the guy that's been in my head for  _six years_! So while I'm not  _sure_ ,  at least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him."

Stephen stares at Tony, regret flickering across his face for a second. Tony knows it's regret for all the nightmares he wasn't there for, having to be in a different dimension for their dimension's sake. "Alright, Tony. We go to him. But you have to remember . . . if it comes to saving you or Peter or the Time Stone . . . I cannot hesitate to let either of you die." Peter's heartbroken gasp hurts both men's hearts. "I'm sorry Peter, Tony, but the fate of the universe depends on it."  _I wish I didn't have to._

"I know," Tony whispers. He sighs, then steps over to Peter. He formally knights Peter with the edge of his hand. "Alright, kid. You're an Avenger now." He doesn't look at his kid, knowing what he just signed Peter up for. 

Peter looks at Tony in disbelief, awe, joy, and pride, before settling on determination, taking a deep breath, mentally preparing for the fight. 

~~~

"So, how'd you meet?" Peter asks, spinning around on a web hanging from the ceiling.

"Some gala for rich, high-up people, a couple years after I got out of university," Stephen answers, meditating. 

"God that was a long time ago," Tony comments, tinkering with the ship's tech. "I think it was a close to the end of the night. You sat next to me on the balcony-"

"And you flirted with me." Stephen adds, laughter in his voice.

"We kept meeting at these stupid rich galas, and always ended up talking to each other in the back or on balconies by the end of the night."

"The idiot somehow got into my heart so I asked him out to lunch."

"Pepper hated me for saying yes, but hey, he didn't pester me about Iron Man or try and get something out of me, so I went. And continued to go. And I fell."

"He proposed two and a half years later, at his house after dinner."

Peter laughs. "And you said yes?"

Stephen and Tony frown. "No," Stephen murmurs. "I didn't."

"Why?" Peter asks, confused. Then understanding dawns on him. "Ohhh, the law."

"Not mention, I was a up-and-coming surgeon. If I came out as gay, my career would have been over in a snap."

"So I backed off, and six months later, I asked again," Tony says. "And he said yes this time, but made me swear to keep the whole thing under wraps."

"JARVIS married us. It was unofficial, of course, but it made us happy," Stephen reminisces. 

"So that's what the ring you always wear is!" Peter says. "I remember reading articles theorizing that you were married to some lady, but it always seemed far-fetched."

Tony laughs. "Yeah, they had a field day when someone noticed it. No one's figured it out yet, we've told everyone who knows."

"Except Pepper," Stephen teases.

Tony shivers. "Pepper is scary. The first day I wore my ring, she came up to me and said 'I know you married Stephen, and I just wanted to say congratulations'. Scary."

Peter and Stephen laugh. "I'm surprised Natasha didn't find out," Stephen says. 

"Right?" Tony sighs. "Though maybe that's for the best. If she had, and put in her report, it would have gotten dumped on the internet and we'd have been outed to anyone who read through them."

"But you're getting married offically now, right?" Peter asks. "So you're outing yourselves to everyone after this?"

"Yeah, it's time," Stephen says. "Besides, I've always wanted a big wedding . . ."

"And I want to spend more time with you," Tony says to his fiancé. 

"After this, we'll have all the time in the world," Stephen promises, smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the time in the world . . . 
> 
> Okay readers, guess what I found was written in a scene!! 
> 
> Tony: Nice. Good. Moral compass. We're straight.
> 
> WE'RE STRAIGHT.
> 
> Can you believe they actually said that these two characters are straight!? I'm sorry, I just find it so funny!
> 
> Anyways, I need your help! Would Peter be the ring bearer or the flower boy? I need to know!! Comment and tell me! And feel free to drop an idea you want to see in the upcoming chapters!


	9. Toxic Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gamora and Thanos have some issues to work out, and Thanos straight up hates Nebula.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry for not updating sooner!! School has been crazy and I'm... going through some stuff. Never fear, I will try to update more regularly now! Like, every Friday or something. Maybe.

Thanos's mother ship, ten times the size of the Ring Ships the Black Order uses, Sanctuary II rests in another area of the galaxy. It's black, a rip in the beautiful stars' background.

~~~

Gamora sits on the steps to a harsh looking, large stone throne.

Thanos walks in, carrying a cup of food, offering it to now standing Gamora. "I thought you might be hungry." 

She takes it, then throws it at the throne, scattering the cup. "I always hated that chair." She stares at the throne, Thanos's throne.

"So I've been told. Even so, I'd hoped you'd sit on it one day." He stares at it too.

"I hated this room. This ship. I hated my life." 

"You told me that too." Thanos ascends two of the four steps and turns, sitting on the second from the top. "Every day. For almost twenty years." He sounds both regretful and proud, almost like a true father.

"I was a child when you took me," Gamora snarls, not being won over by petty, regretful words.

"I saved you."

"No. No," Gamora denies, facing Thanos. "We were happy on my home planet."

"Going to bed hungry, scrounging for scraps. Your planet was on the brink of collapse," Thanos argues. "I'm the one who stopped that. Do you know what's happened since then? The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It's a paradise." 

"Because you murdered half the planet!"

Thanos scoffs. "A small price to pay for salvation."

"You're insane," she mutters.

"Little one, it's a simple calculus. This universe is finite, its resources finite. If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correction." _And I am that correction,_  he adds silently.

"You don't know that!" Gamora hisses, her love for life pouring from her heart and into her words.

Thanos scowls, not truly listening to his daughter, too dead-set in his ways to see another's perspective. "I'm the only one who knows that. At least, I'm the only one with the will to act on it." He stands up and walks to Gamora. "For a time . . . you had that same will . . . as you fought by my side. Daughter."

"I'm not your daughter," Gamora coolly says. "Everything I hate about myself you taught me."

"And in doing so, made you the fiercest woman in the galaxy." He pauses, knowing it's true. "That's why I trusted you to find the Soul Stone." 

Gamora tenses. "I'm sorry I disappointed you."

"I am disappointed. But not because you didn't find it," Thanos puts their heads level to each other, and whispers fiercely, "But because you did." He stares at her. "And you  ** _lied_**."

 ~ ° ° ° ° ° ° ~

Thanos and Gamora stand outside a thick solid door, which slides open at their approach. They pause as a set of inner doors of interlacing metal slide away as well, then walk in, both doors closing after they pass into the room. Inside is Nebula, being suspended horizontally in the middle of the room with her face at level with Gamora. Her breathing is ragged, her face twisted from pain. 

"Nebula," Gamora says. She runs to Nebula's  side, seeing that she has been partially disassembled, her robotic parts stretched painfully apart. She gently places a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "Don't do this," she says to Thanos.

"Some time ago, your sister snuck aboard this ship to kill me," Thanos responds. 

"Please don't do this," Gamora pleads.

Thanos continues as if she never spoke. "And very nearly succeeded. So I brought her here. To talk." He curls his gauntleted fist, scowling, both the Power and Space Stones glowing. The stones stones force Nebula's already stretched pieces to extend more as she screams.

"Stop. Stop it!" She pulls Thanos's gauntlet down, and he stops, Nebula's pieces going back to where they were before. "I swear to you on my life. I never found the Soul Stone."

Thanos motions to a nearby servant who hits a button on the control pad. A recording of Nebula's voice says, "Accessing memory files," and a hologram of Gamora projects itself from Nebula's eye into empty space in front of them. 

Nebula, from the recording, says, "You know what he's about to do. He's finally ready, and he's going for the stones. All of them."

Hologram Gamora, stone faced, replies, "He can never get them all."

"He will!" Nebula insists.

"He can't, Nebula. Because I found the map to the Soul Stone," she hisses, "and I burnt it to ash. I burnt it."

The hologram disappears. 

Thanos stalks slowly around Gamora. "You're strong.  _Me._  You're generous.  ** _Me_**. But I never taught you to lie. That's why you're so  _bad_  at it." His voice drips with disgust and fury. "Where is the Soul Stone?" He raises the gauntlet next to her face, Gamora not flinching nor looking Thanos in the eye. Nebula shakes her head as much as she can, terrified. After a couple seconds, Thanos reactivates the two Stones, furrowing his brow as Nebula screams louder and Gamora grimaces in shared pain.

"Vormir!" Gamora bursts out, tears choking her words. The Stones stop glowing and Nebula gasps for air as her pieces reattach themselves, almost. Gamora caresses her sister's face sadly. "The Stone is on Vormir."

Thanos looks satisfied. Not happy, not smiling or grinning or showing any emotion, he simply sounds satisfied when he says, "Show me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So right about when Thanos is talking about how Gamora is the best, I have to say: I can't tell if he doesn't know of Pepper Pots or Captain Marvel or Peggy Carter, or if he just decided to not remember them. Sure they're not the most physical strong person ever (except for Miss Carol), but they are just as strong in spirit as Gamora.


	10. So Much To Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor needs a mom, cookies, some warm hugs, and time to rest. Rocket finds himself being the responsible one, and Groot is an angsty teenager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live.

Meanwhile, in Thor, Rocket, and Groot's pod . . . 

"I am Groot," Groot whines.

"Tinkle in the cup. We're not looking. What's there to see? A twig? Everybody's seen a twig," Rocket replies. 

"I am Groot," Groot whines more.

While staring out the rear porthole, Thor responds, "Tree, pour what's in the cup out in space, and go in the cup again." 

Rocket looks over at him. "You speak Groot?" he asks, curious.

"Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective." Thor decides to not mention that Loki had made him take it, had made him take almost all the languages available. 

"I am Groot," complains the tree.

"You'll know when we're there. Nivadellir's forge harnesses the power of a blazing neutron star," Thor nostalgically says. "It's the birth place of my hammer. It's truly awesome."

Rocket turns to see Thor sitting forlornly out the port window and sighs. "Okay, time to be the captain," he mutters to himself. He gets up and walks over to the console, pressing buttons. "So, dead sister, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying."

"Well, nobody knew of her existence until my father released her prison, and then she promptly tried to destroy Asgard, so her being dead may be best for us."

"And you said your dad?"

"Dead."

"Still got a mom, though?"

"Killed by a dark elf."

"A best friend?"

"Stabbed through the heart."

"Friends?"

"Dead or in prison."

Rocket looks at Thor with concern. "Are you sure you're up to this particular murder mission?"

Smiling widely, trying to convince himself, Thor replies, "Absolutely. Rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret . . . they're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go."

"Yeah, but this Thanos we're talking about . . . he's the toughest there is," Rocket reluctantly says.

"Well, he's never fought me."

"Yeah, he has."

"He's never fought me twice. And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget." Of course, Thor now knows his powers aren't connected to the hammer, but a good weapon is always good for war.

"Better be some hammer," Rocket mutters.

"You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one would have rather killed me, but none succeeded." Loki got close many times, could actually kill Thor if he truly tried, but had always stopped before death. All the others were hard, but not impossible. They were dead and he alive, after all. "I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is the latest in a long line of bastards and he will be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so." 

"And what if you're wrong?" 

"If I'm wrong then . . ." He pauses. "What more could I lose?"  _Loki . . . His newly found friends . . . Jane and Darcy . . . The last of his people . . ._ Thor sniffs and quickly wipes away something below his eye. He changes seats, moving to the front of the pod next to Groot.

Rocket mutters under his breath, "I could lose a lot. Me personally, I could lose a lot." He takes an eyeball out of a pouch. He stands up and goes over to Thor. "Okay. If fate does want you to kill that crapsack . . . you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball." He hands over the eyeball and Thor stares at it.

"What's this?" 

"What's it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me on on Contraxia."

Thor rises an eyebrow at Rocket. "He gave you his eye?"

"He gave me 100 credits. I snuck in later that night and stole his eye," Rocket scoffs.

"Thank you, sweet rabbit," Thor says before inserting it into his bloody eye socket.

"Hmm. Huh? Oh. I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my . . ." He's interrupted by a beeping from the console. "Hey, we're here!"

Thor smacks the side of his head, trying to get the eye to work. "I don't think this thing works. Everything seems dark."

"It ain't the eye," Rocket remarks darkly. 

Nidavellir is dark, frozen rings encircle the planet, motionless. No light at all comes from the planet. It looks abandoned.

"Something's wrong. The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen," Thor mutters, fisting his hand, missing his hammer. 

The pod flies through giant machinery, frozen over and dark like the whole planet.

**NIDAVELLIR**

After setting the pod down, Thor, Rocket, and Groot disembark and begin traipses across the cluttered, frozen factory floor. The only sound comes from their footsteps and Groot's game, which he is still playing. 

"I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are cleaning," Rocket mutters, quieter than normal, picking up on the abandoned feel. "Maybe they realized they live in a junk pile in the middle of space."

"This forge hasn't gone dark in centuries . . ." Thor trails off, heartbroken.

Pausing, Rocket stares at a pedestal for a gauntlet. "You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?"

"Yes. Why?" Thor turns around and notices the pedestal.

"Look anything like that?" Rocket asks in trepidation, already knowing the answer by Thor's paling face.

"I am Groot," Groot murmurs uneasily, glancing around him.

"Go back to the pod," Thor orders, lightning flickering around his body.

A massive figure rushes the group, flinging Thor away with one swing of their arms, kicking Rocket and Groot against a wall of machines.

"Eitri, wait! Stop!" Thor yells, getting up.

"Thor?" the figure, Eitri, questions brokenly.

Thor slowly walks over to Eitri, asking, "What happened here?"

"You were supposed to protect us. Asgard was supposed to protect us!" Eitri cries, slumping against a wall.

"Asgard is destroyed," Thor quickly explains, pain flitting across his face. "Eitri, the glove. What did you do?"

Rocket and Groot get up carefully as Eitri explains. "Three hundred dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones." Groot's game is intact, and he immediately begins to play it again. "Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. 'Your life is yours,' he said. 'But your hands are mine alone.' " Eitri finishes, holding up his fists, which are encased in harden molten metal. Tears streak his face, he will never be able create another piece again, not while his hands are immobile as they are now.

"Eitri," Thor says, putting a comforting hand on Eitri's knee. "This isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've ever designed . . . every ax, hammer, sword . . . it's all inside your head. Now I know it feels like all hope is lost." Oh how he knows. "Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos." 

Eitri looks up, hope igniting like a fire in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so so so sorry for not updating in about a month... I would give am excuse, but there's no real excuse. Sure, school has me wanting to scream, homework is killing me, I'm stressed out, and my family has been giving me way too much social anxiety. But, like, not a great excuse, so I'll try my best to get chapters out quicker.


	11. The Morons Arrive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nebula breaks out and everyone is confused because Thor is /hot/.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh heh, sorry for being away for so long! I'll explain more at the end of the chapter...

Still suspended, Nebula scowls as a solider puts her back together. Her eyepiece pops out, causing the solider to walk up to her front to pop it back in. She snaps his neck and pulls herself out of the suspension beam. Limping to the console, Nebula straightens her left arm as her dislocated right foot drags behind her. She inputs a code into the console once she reaches it.

"Mantis, listen very carefully. I need you to meet me on Titan," she orders.

~/╲/\\( •••• ω ••••)/\╱\~

The donut ship approaches a planet, not slowing down.

"Hey, what's going on?" Peter asks, turning to Tony.

"I think we're here." Stephen walks over to the middle where the other two are gathering.

Tony stares at the alien control console. It's glowing red, a universal warning. "I don't think this rig has a self-park function." He gestures at Peter, urgently guiding him, "Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?" He has his armor on, one hand clutching the handle thing. 

Peter copies him."Yep, got it."

"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta to move at the same time." He maintains eye contact, knowing after months of mentoring it calms Peter. 

"Okay. Okay." Deep breath. "Ready." He nods resolutely at Tony. The giant windshield shows that they're heading straight towards a bunch of ruins that look like snowflake skyscrapers. "We might wanna turn." The two pull at the handles, the ship barely moving. "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Peter yells as they put all their weight and power into it. 

They don't crash, but they do clip the top of the ruin, causing a lot of damage to the ship. Both suited men's helmets cover their faces as Stephen steps in front of them and throws up the Shield of the Seraphim around all three of them. 

"This may be a rough landing," Tony grits out. Then the ship plows into the planet, tossing everyone around. It eventually comes to a stop, tilting to the side as sparks fly.

**TITAN**

Cloaky floats Stephen down, landing him next to Tony. He helps his fiancé up, the man grimacing as his helmet retracts. They're both breathing heavily.

"May be rough?" Stephen complains as they lean on each other a tiny bit.

"You alright?" Tony asks, panting. "That was close. I owe you one." Stephen snorts. Understatement of the century. Tony owes him at least a hundred.

Peter descends like a spider, retracting his helmet. "Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something, and I eat one of you, I'm sorry." 

The couple stare at him with so many questions. Tony points at Peter, saying, "I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" There's no heat in his words though.

Peter flips down to stand in front of the two, hands in a placating manner. "I'm trying to say that . . . something is coming." 

A grenade rolls to a stop in front of them, throwing everyone away with an energy pulse before they could react. Quill, Drax, and Mantis run in from a hole in the ship.

"THANOS!" Drax yells, flinging one of his long knives at Stephen, who neatly deflects it with a shield. Cloaky jumps Drax, wrapping around his face and trying to suffocate him, bringing Drax to the ground.

Quill and Tony share gun fire until Quill yeets- sorry, throws a magnet disc behind Tony, pulling his metal suit towards it.

Peter and Mantis stare at each other in terror before Peter frantically crawls yelling, “AH! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR EGGS IN ME!” He shoots webs at her without aiming, managing to web her arms to her sides before Quill flies feet-first into him. 

Peter falls to the ground as Quill quips, “Stay down, clown!” Peter jumps away with his metal legs, dodging the electric whip Quill throws at the legs. They begin to play cat and mouse, Peter just one step ahead of a frustrated Quill.

Cloaky fights Drax, trying to suffocate him as Drax struggles to get a hold on it. “Die, blanket of death!”

Tony blasts free from the magnet and plants a foot on Drax’s chest, nanities gathering around that foot to increase the weight. Quill finally hits Peter, immediately putting him in a headlock and pointing his gun at Peter’s helmeted head.

Stephen holds up a shield in front of himself, glancing from Tony to Peter and Quill to the others. Mantis struggles to stand up behind Quill, still covered in webs.

”Alright, everybody, stay where you are... chill the F out.“ Quill deactivates his helmet. “I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora?”

Tony’s helmet molds back into his suit. “Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?”

“I'll do you one better! Why is Gamora?!” Drax yells, the Cloak choking him. Stephen sighs just the slightest at that statement.

“Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I'm gonna French-fry this little freak,” Quill threatens, pushing the gun against Peter’s iron mask.

”Let's do it! You shoot my guy, I blast him.” A oversized canon forms on Tony’s hand, which is pointed at Drax’s face. “Let's go!”

”Do it, Quill! I can take it!” Drax orders, still being choked.

”No, he can't take it!” Mantis wails.

Completely deadpan, Stephen comments, “She's right. You can't.”

“Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you and beat it out of Thanos myself,” Quill snarls, before turning to Peter, “Starting with you.”

”Wait, what. Thanos?” He lowers his shield slightly. “Alright, let me ask you this one time: What master do you serve?”

”What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say? ‘Jesus’?”

”You're from Earth?” Tony asks, staring at Quill.

”I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri!” Quill says indignantly.

”Yeah, that's on EARTH, dip-shit. What are you hassling us for?” 

Sounding slightly crushed, Peter clarifies, “So, you're not with Thanos?”

”WITH Thanos?! No, I'm here to kill Thanos! He took my girl. Wait... who are you?” Quill asks, finally asking a good question.

Peter withdraws his mask. “We're the Avengers, man.”

”Oh.”

”You're the ones Thor and his black cat told us about!” Mantis exclaims, pointing at them. 

”You know Thor?” Stephen asks as Tony mutters, “Black cat?”

”Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking,” Peter, Tony, and Stephen give him an incredulous look, “needed saving.”

The gathered Avengers look at each other, before Stephen asks, “Where is he now?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, those who couldn’t care less about me or the future of this story ignore. Everyone else, please read on.
> 
> First off, I’m sorry. I’m so deeply sorry. The way things have been, I just haven’t had the time or will to write. Homework, anxiety, the fact that I’ve started being emotionally numb, they all have stopped me from continuing.  
> Second, I will not be pausing this story. Updates will come every month preferably, however that may change due to exams and finals. I repeat: THIS STORY IS NOT DONE AND WILL NOT BE STOPPED.  
> Third, feel free to comment if it’s been a month and there’s no update! Be kind, but please remind me. I check my inbox and it warms my heart to see what you’re thinking and it makes me want to write. After all, I write for both my own and you the readers’ enjoyment.  
> And finally, I will be posting another chapter hopefully sometime in February... Happy holidays and be safe kiddos!


	12. Bucky's Makeover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know you've been waiting for this.

"OKEYE I NEED YOUR HELP!" Shuri yells.

Okeye walks in to one of the strangest scenes she's seen in her life time. And she once walked into T'Challa crying over kittens. 

James "Bucky" Barnes is in cleaner clothes, without mud on his face, and is sitting in a chair looking terrified as Shuri lines up bottles and combs. 

"Bast protect us," she mutters under her breath. In a normal volume she continues, saying, "What do you need my Princess?"

"The poor sad white boy needs to look pretty for his boyfriend!" Shuri replies matter of factly.

"What's she doing to me?" James asks, panicking. 

“Cleaning you up, I believe.”

Shuri passes Okeye a comb. “So first we’re going to comb it, then we’ll clean it, then maybe style it if we have time. Computer when’s the boyfriend coming?”

“Steve Rogers will be arriving in two hours,” the computer replies.

“That’s not enough time,” Shuri complains.

Sighing, Okeye sets her spear down on the counter. “We’ll make it enough.”

James holds still as they attack the tangles in his hair. 

“What happened here?” Okeye asks, appalled as she subdues a knot.

“Mud, sweat, and the goats,” James supplies sullenly. “I would have kept it better but I haven’t been in the right mindset, plus the goats...”

“Good hair health is good mental health,” Shuri quotes as she manages to go through her piece without knots.

“Hmm, true,” James muses.

After more struggle, they get through all of his hair. 

“Now, bring forth the sink!” Shuri commands. A sleek sink rises up from the ground, rotating so his hair is in the basin. “The shampoo first-”

“Actually, I’d recommend just a water layer, to get the twigs and such out, then using the shampoo and conditioner,” James cuts in.

“And you know this how?” Okeye asks.

“Hey, I was raised in Brooklyn, I know how to properly take care of hair. Lord knows how many times I’ve had to wash my sisters’ hair when Ma was too tired to. It kinda stuck with me.”

Shuri’s face lights up. Okeye cuts in before she does something. “You can’t adopt him. James is 100 years old, he’s quite past adopting age.”

“But he’s a dramatic sad white boy Okeye!” Shuri protests.

“You do know you can call me Bucky, right?” James- _Bucky_  says.

“I know you want to adopt every sad white boy your brother brings here, but you can’t adopt them all!” Okeye argues.

“Fiiiiiine.” 

"Sad white boy?" Bucky whispers to himself, confused.

"Water!" Shuri declares, turning on the H2O.

They let Bucky's hair soak in the water before starting with the shampoo. 

"Um, Okeye?" Shuri asks, staring at the now soapy hair.

"Yes?" Okeye walks over to Shuri and laughs. 

"Okeyyyeeee," Shuri whines.

"Fine fine." Okeye attacks with vigor, agressively cleaning the sad-looking hair.

Bucky stays silent through the process, only wincing once when Okeye pressed too hard on the area Hydra used to shock his brain.

After that, they wash the shampoo out and add conditioner. Shuri takes over for Okeye and soon is done.

"Sister," T'Challa says, walking in, "Mr. Barnes' things are in the room across from you. The Captain will be arriving shortly so please don't keep Mr. Barnes for long." And with that T'Challa leaves, practically running away from his sister before she can tell at him.

Shuri huffs and rolls her eyes. "Go on solider, you heard my brother."

Bucky smiles and thanks the two before leaving.

~★~

"OKEYE THE SAD WHITE BOY HAS FLUFFY HAIR!" Shuri yells.

Okeye walks in and sees Shuri petting Bucky's hair. She simply sighs in defeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, long time no see! I know this is a short chapter and I'm really sorry about that. Hopefully they'll get longer again, but I have an English essay due soon along with a Spanish project so I'm stressing just a bit. Thank you for all the support and comments, they truly make my day!
> 
> The next chapter should be out sometime in March!


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